The law states that RE must be taught in all schools. However, religious education (RE) is not part of the National Curriculum, it is a local responsibility.

Royal Greenwich SACRE's role is to advise the local authority on what needs to be done to improve RE and collective worship (CW) for schools in its area. Through the SACRE, local communities and teachers have the opportunity to influence directly what pupils learn in RE.

The main duties of SACRE include:

• addressing issues relating to RE in local schools and other educational establishments and developing the Multi faith guidelines
• developing ways of supporting schools in the delivery of the religious education syllabus and monitoring this delivery
• developing and maintaining links with local and national faith communities
• considering applications for determinations from Head teachers. This is an application that the school be released from the requirements for CW to be of a mainly Christian character
• producing an annual report of its work.

Who is on SACRE

SACRE is required by law to be made up of four groups in order to bring a wide range of interests and talents to its work and to reflect local communities:

• Group A: faiths and beliefs representative of the local communities, including Christian denominations other than Church of England
• Group B: the Church of England
• Group C: teachers' professional associations and Greenwich University
• Group D: elected member of the Council and Children's Services representatives.

Meetings

Meetings are held four to five times a year in a range of faith venues and schools. We welcome contact and visits from interested individuals or representatives of organisations to our meetings.

Find out more about SACRE meetings, members and contact details