B&NES Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE)

Use this page to find out more about the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) for Bath & North East Somerset.

Expand the sections below to find out more about B&NES SACRE is, to access reports and guidance, and to find professional support.

About B&NES SACRE 

Who B&NES SACRE are

B&NES SACRE is made up of:

• local faith communities (including Christians other than the Church of England)
• the Church of England
• teachers
• B&NES Council
• co-opted members

What B&NES SACRE do

Their main legal function is to advise the council on both Religious Education and Collective Worship. This means that they:

• ensure the council regularly reviews its Agreed Syllabus for R.E.
• consider applications (‘determinations’) from schools wanting their Collective Worship to be other than mainly of a Christian character
• publish an Annual Report of their work
• advise the council on teacher training
• offer guidance on resources and methods of teaching
• monitor inspection reports on:
  • RE
  • Collective Worship
  • Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development
• consider complaints about the provision and delivery of RE and Collective Worship
• publicise their aims and services

They meet three times a year at either a local school, college, or place of special religious interest. Members of the public may observe.

Contact B&NES SACRE for details of meetings, to acquire a handbook about the role of SACRE members, or for any other information.

Reports, guidance, and minutes 

Meeting minutes

25 June 2025

Annual reports

Annual Report 2024

Guidance

WIRE Award

SACRE knows there is lots of fabulous RE being taught across our area. It is delighted to offer the chance for schools to receive the Wire Award to celebrate great RE!

The Wire Award is open to all Primary, Secondary and Special schools. It aims to encourage pupils to learn about diversity in our local area. To achieve it, you are asked to evidence just three things:

1. A teacher in your school attends some RE CPD this academic year – for example, the local Bath and NE Somerset RE Hub.
2. Either arrange a visit to a place of worship or invite in a visitor to speak to a class/school from a worldview that is NOT Christian.
3. Enter an RE competition (for example, Spirited Arts) or invite parents to an exhibition of your learning about RE in the school.

Just three simple steps could enable you to receive the highly coveted Wire Award – presented by a member of SACRE to pupils in your school! A great way to raise the profile of RE.

Please contact Rebekah at rebekahguy7@gmail.com for more information.

LTLRE Bath Hub

LTLRE Bath hub runs three times a year. It is a great opportunity for CPD and networking in the local area. Hub meetings are free and open to all teachers for RE. Please see Area 2 | Learn, Teach, Lead RE for further details.

RE Newsletters

RE newsletters are emailed out three times a year. If you are not currently on our mailing list, contact Rebekah at rebekahguy7@gmail.com.

Collective worship guidance

Read guidance on collective worship

Professional support 

Websites

Awareness Mystery Value (AMV) - the New Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education

The Agreed Syllabus for Bath & North East Somerset (as well as Bristol, the London Borough of Haringey, and North Somerset) can be found at Awareness Mystery Value. For support implementing AMV please contact our adviser by emailing rebekahguy7@gmail.com

Church of England schools can contact the Diocese of Bath and Wells Education team through their website.

Other useful websites

An extremely comprehensive list of useful resources grouped together by type can be found at Useful Websites, Resources and Films For Primary RE - RE:ONLINE

Explore RE in your area

Home - RE:ONLINE

Love Teaching RE! – NATRE

RE Today supporting Religious Education in schools

KS2 Religious Education - BBC Bitesize

Home - TrueTube

Home - The Jewish Museum London

Home - RE:quest

KS1-2 religious education curriculum unit sequence | Oak National Academy

REC

Understanding Humanism

CSTGM

Visits/visitors

he RE Hubs website has a vast wealth of information and resources. In particular, there is a page for Places of interest and School Speakers. Humanist UK also offer school speakers Humanist School Speakers.

The following places of worship welcome visitors by pre-arrangement. Some of these are outside of B&NES but might still be useful for some schools. Your local churches, or other places of worship, are also likely to be able to welcome school groups. Do contact them to find out.

Bristol Baháʼí Community

Bristol Buddhist Centre – A Centre of the Triratna Buddhist Community

Lam Rim Bristol Buddhist Centre – Buddhist Centre in South Bristol following the Tibetan Gelug tradition

Bath Abbey

St. John the Evangelist – Catholic Church

Bath Quakers – Local meeting of the Religious Society of Friends

Schools - John Wesley’s New Room

Wells Cathedral

Siri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara Bristol

Shree Jagannatha Temple UK - Hindu Temple & Spiritual Centre in Bath | Shree Jagannatha Temple UK (City of BATH)

The Hindu Temple Bristol

bathmosque.org.uk

Jamia Masjid Mosque – Easton

Shahjalal Jame Mosque

parkrowsynagogue.org

BWPJC

While SACRE can recommend speakers for the purposes of the enhancement of children’s learning, it cannot verify whether the speaker has an up-to-date DBS tested status. The safeguarding of the children is the responsibility of the school. SACRE does not take responsibility for the places or people listed on the website and is not specifically approving them or what they offer.

The legal situation 

Some history

RE, originally called Religious Instruction in the 1944 Education Act, though it was a school subject long before then, used also to be known as Religious Knowledge (RK), Scripture or Divinity. It is now universally known as RE in Primary schools and as RE, Religious Studies (RS) and sometimes Religion and Philosophy (R&P) in Secondary schools. GCSE, AS and A2 exams are called Religious Studies.

The Education Act (1996)

The Education Act (1996) requires:

• RE to be taught to all pupils in full time education in LEA and Church Voluntary Controlled Schools. This includes children in Reception classes, post 16 students and pupils with Special Educational needs
• RE to be taught according to the LEA agreed syllabus (Awareness Mystery and Value in B&NES) in all community and voluntary controlled schools
• RE to play its full part along with other subjects and parts of school life and with collective worship in “providing the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils”
• the agreed syllabus to reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian whilst taking account of the teaching and practises of the other principal religions represented in the UK

Parents’ rights

The parents of any child have the legal right to withdraw their child from RE teaching in a school (as they do from several other aspects of the curriculum). This is usually done after consultation with the Headteacher of the school.

Church schools

Church of England Aided Schools in B&NES are also encouraged by the Diocese of Bath and Wells to use the agreed syllabus, Awareness Mystery and Value, with a few additional requirements because of their special status as aided schools. Roman Catholic schools in B&NES, all of which are aided, are required by the Diocese of Clifton to follow a Catholic syllabus both at Secondary and Primary level.