The Northumberland Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) met on 12 November 2025, to discuss a range of issues including the election of a chair and vice-chair, a review of the council's constitution, and the upcoming Holocaust Memorial Day. Members were also scheduled to review and provide feedback on SACRE's annual report, and to create a development plan for 2025/26.

Constitution Review

The meeting included a review of SACRE's constitution, with a view to recommending updates. The constitution states that SACRE's role is to advise the Local Authority on matters relating to religious education and collective worship in Community and Voluntary Controlled schools.

The constitution also defines the membership of SACRE, which is made up of members from four committees:

• Committee A: representatives for different denominations, networks, religions, or worldviews.
• Committee B: representatives from The Church of England.
• Committee C: representatives from the Teachers' Professional Associations.
• Committee D: Local Authority representatives.

The constitution states that the Chair and Vice Chair are appointed from Members of Committees A, B, C and D. It also describes how voting should be conducted, and how often SACRE should meet.

Draft Annual SACRE Report 2024/25

The meeting included time for members to read and provide feedback on SACRE's annual report. The SACRE Annual Report 2024 - 2025 v1 covers the academic year 2024-2025 and includes:

• An introduction from Councillor Catherine Seymour, former Chair of the Northumberland SACRE.
• Details of SACRE meetings held during the year.
• Information on the Northumberland Agreed Syllabus Conference.
• Information about standards and monitoring of RE, and teacher training and advice for schools.
• Information on withdrawals and complaints related to RE and collective worship.
• Links with other bodies, including NASACRE¹, AREIAC² and NATRE³.

The report notes that resources to support the work of the SACRE continue to be ring-fenced with a specific financial contribution from Northumberland County Council.

Holocaust Memorial Day

Members were scheduled to discuss the Holocaust Memorial Day event at County Hall, which was due to take place on Monday 26 January 2026.

NASACRE Issues

The meeting included an item to receive the latest NASACRE Newsletter. The newsletter included a welcome from Bill Moore, Chair of NASACRE, and an introduction to Paul Smalley, the new Executive Officer. It also included information about webinars to support effective SACREs, and a summary of the annual report analysis.

Other items

• The meeting was scheduled to include the election of a Chair and Vice-Chair for the 2025/26 academic year.
• Members were expected to examine the membership and representation of each committee.
• The annual budget report on the money being provided from the Central School Services Block⁴, the relevant section of the Dedicated Schools Grant, was due to be presented.
• An update from C. Weir (RE Consultant) regarding the provision of RE in-service training and contacts with schools since the last meeting was scheduled.
• Members were expected to create the Northumberland SACRE Development Plan for 2025/26.
• Members were reminded of the Northumberland SACRE newsletter and resources webpage.
• Members were asked to note future training sessions and discuss completed sessions.
• Members were scheduled to agree dates of future meetings for the academic year 2025-26 and 2026-27.