Bromley SACRE Updates Constitution and Terms of Reference, Reviews Revised Agreed Syllabus

Bromley's Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) has updated its constitution and terms of reference to reflect current practices. The updates were a key item discussed during the SACRE meeting on Monday, 3 November 2025, held at Warren Road Primary School.

The council convened an Agreed Syllabus Conference as part of the meeting, focusing on the revised Bromley Agreed Syllabus. Key discussion points and outcomes of the conference included SACRE members unanimously agreeing to recommendations such as the SACRE RE Adviser preparing a draft version of the revised Bromley Agreed Syllabus using the 'flower' model, and supporting the development of additional materials through teacher workshops¹.

The SACRE constitution was updated to reflect the use of the titles Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson. This decision was made at the SACRE meeting on 18 June 2025, and members were provided with a revised copy of the terms of reference for approval, as noted in Report No. CSD25118. The decision to update the titles was recorded in the Minutes of the 18 June 2025 SACRE meeting.

The updated terms of reference include:

• Advising the local authority on matters connected with collective worship and religious education.
• Disseminating an understanding of the educational role of religious education and collective worship.
• Supporting schools in delivering effective RE and CW. SACRE provides this support through various means, including teacher networks, a bi-annual newsletter, a dedicated webpage on Bromley Education Matters, the REal Resources videos, and the Interfaith Dialogue Programme. SACRE has previously provided resources for use in school assemblies, including guidance with ideas and suggestions for quality collective worship, as detailed in the Sacre Annual Report Bromley 2024-5.
• Advising on the implementation of collective worship requirements.
• Supporting the local authority in reviewing religious education and collective worship.
• Encouraging the implementation of the Agreed Syllabus.
• Keeping the Agreed Syllabus under review.
• Publishing an annual report.
• Submitting the annual report to the Department for Education.

The council also reviewed the draft of the revised Bromley Agreed Syllabus. The draft syllabus emphasizes the importance of Religious Education (RE) in schools, stating that it should take up a minimum of 5% of annual curriculum time. SACRE monitors adherence to this recommendation through a website survey exploring how schools devise their curriculum and deliver RE, and by using data from the Teaching Hours for RE from the School Workforce Census collected by the DfE, according to the Sacre Annual Report Bromley 2024-5. It also outlines aims for Religious Education, including gaining a positive understanding of how the community may be influenced by religions and other belief systems, and gaining an understanding of what is meant by a worldview.