Funding awarded to help develop religious education teaching in Shropshire schools
Shropshire’s Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) has been awarded a grant of £3,550 to develop its activity for Shropshire schools.
The grant is from the Westhill/NASACRE Award 2017-18.
Since 1988, every local authority has had a duty to establish a SACRE – an independent body which considers the provision of religious education (RE) in its area.
The duty of the SACRE is to provide advice and guidance to Shropshire Council on matters related to collective worship in community schools, and on RE given in accordance with the locally agreed syllabus.
The grant will be used to produce 14 videos and support and guidance material for primary school staff, to support collective worship focusing on non-Christian Acts of worship – reflecting Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Baha’i and Humanism.
The project will draw on the experience and knowledge of individual SACRE members and members of the Inter-Faith forums, representing faiths and religious views other than Christianity.
Henry White, Chair of Shropshire’s SACRE, said:
“RE is a statutory part of the basic curriculum for all pupils, but it is not a National Curriculum subject. Instead, RE is a local authority responsibility through its SACRE.
“Shropshire’s SACRE advises Shropshire Council on what needs to be done to improve RE and collective worship for schools in Shropshire, including monitoring and reviewing the effectiveness of the agreed syllabus.
“We’re delighted to receive this grant which will help us to develop the work that we carry out to support schools in delivering high quality programmes of Religious Education and Collective Worship.”
Chris Mathews, commissioner for education improvement and efficiency with Shropshire Council, said:
“Shropshire Council is pleased to provide support to the SACRE through the Education Improvement Service. The award of the grant is very encouraging and the resources that will be developed from the grant will assist teachers to provide engaging and inspiring learning opportunities for their pupils.”
The first Westhill/NASACRE Awards were made in 2005. Since then there have been further annual rounds of Awards to SACREs, for local projects that involve schools. The Awards are funded by generous grants from the Westhill Foundation and are managed and coordinated by NASACRE (the National Association of SACREs).
For more information, go to: http://www.nasacre.org.uk/westhill-nasacre-awards
Further information
All SACREs comprise four committees representing: the Church of England; Christian denominations other than the Church of England and other faith groups; recognized teacher associations; and local councillors. In practice, many representatives are appointed to serve both the Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin SACREs and can be drawn from either area.
Advice and guidance to Voluntary Aided and Voluntary Controlled schools is provided through Diocesan Education Boards. There are close working relationships between officers from the Local Authority and from the Dioceses.
