York SACRE

York's Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) was established in 1996 as required by the 1988 Education Reform Act.

SACRE meets termly, including for the presentation of their Annual Report in December.

It's composed of 4 representative groups:

• Christian denominations, other than the Church of England, and representatives of other faiths
• the local Church of England
• teachers' associations
• councillors

Religious education syllabus

Religious Education (RE) is not part of the National Curriculum, but must be taught in schools by law. The syllabus (known as the 'Agreed Syllabus') must be produced locally.

York's Agreed Syllabus was launched in May 2021 but cannot be published on this website for copyright reasons. Email SACRE if you require further details.

SACRE's duties

SACREs are legally responsible for advising Local Education Authorities (LAs) on RE teaching and collective worship, and ensuring compliance.

The Agreed Syllabus must legally be reviewed every 5 years - this takes place at an Agreed Syllabus Conference, involving the same groupings as a SACRE.

York SACRE's aims

York SACRE aims to:

• promote a high quality Agreed Syllabus
• help teachers and schools raise standards in RE teaching
• help schools improve the quality of collective worship
• contribute towards social cohesion, particularly in respect of improving religious and racial harmony within the community

Supporting SACRE documentation

View supporting SACRE documentation:

• SACRE Constitution 2019-20
• An Introduction to City of York SACRE
• SACRE Code of Conduct and responsibilities

Collective worship

View our guidelines on collective worship:

• Collective Worship Guidance 2017
• Appendix 1: Collective Worship Model Policy
• Appendix 2: Collective Worship Determination Guidance
• Appendix 3: Collective Worship Themes
• Appendix 4: Self Evaluation of Collective Worship in York

York SACRE meetings

York's SACRE usually meets at West Offices, but sometimes, also in schools. Members of the public are also welcome to attend meetings (from 6.00pm to 7.00pm).

York SACRE will meet on the following date in 2025:

• 15 July 2025 at 6.00pm

View the SACRE meeting minutes from 22 January 2024 and the York SACRE Annual Report 2022-23.

York SACRE membership

Members are currently as follows:

Group A:

Such Christian denominations and other religious denominations as, in the opinion of the Authority, will approximately reflect the principal religious traditions in the area.

• Karen Vincent (Faith/Catholic)
• Penny Coppin-Siddall (Faith/ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)
• Imam Amar (Faith/Muslim)
• Ben Rich (Vice Chair) (Faith/Jewish): Ben Rich was the founder of the York Liberal Jewish Community in 2014, a former Chief Executive of the UK Movement for Reform Judaism and now CEO of the think tank Radix Big Tent.  He has been a governor at a number of schools in York and London, including Fishergate Primary and the Krishna Avanti Primary School in Harrow, which was the first Hindu state school in the UK.  He regularly gives talks to local schools and community groups about Judaism.
• Mark Jones (Faith/Buddhist): Mark Jones is the co-founder of York Buddhist Centre. He is a former RE teacher and Buddhist prison chaplain. Currently, he is Buddhist Faith Advisor to York St. John University and gives talks to local schools about Buddhism.
• Fleur Kennedy (Faith/Bahai’i)
• Colin Lewisohn (Faith/Humanist): Colin chairs York Humanists. Humanism is a non-religious belief system that adopts rational and evidential explanations for existence, rather than faith in the supernatural. Humanists uphold a belief in human beings to care for others, for themselves and all flora and fauna.
• Dee Boyle (Faith/Unitarian, Buddhist, Pagan): During my working life I was a teacher in several special needs schools in London for about 30 years and had responsibility for RE within the curriculum for the last 15 of those years. As Deputy Head teacher I also had responsibility for organising training days for all staff on a variety of subjects which included how to best offer education in a multifaith school and community. On returning to York when I retired in 1999 I joined the York Interfaith Group and have been an active member of that group ever since. This includes taking part in Interfaith Days within schools in and around York. I represent the Unitarians, Buddhists and Pagans on the York Interfaith Group committee and talk to school students about these faiths when asked to do so as they all form an important part of my faith, my beliefs and my life.

Group B:

A groups of persons representing The Church of England.

• Sue Bland (CoE)
• Joseph Everdell (CoE): Joseph Everdell is a teacher of RE and the PSHCE lead at a secondary school in York with experience teaching children and young people of all ages.

Group C:

A group of persons to represent such associations representing teachers as, in the opinion of the authority, ought to be represented, having regard to the circumstances of the area.

• Taco Michiels (Joseph Rowntree School): Teaching member of group C representing secondary school teachers. Current Head of RS at The Joseph Rowntree School and a member of SACRE because it is an interesting and valuable part of council work as well as being a privilege to be a part of the group that helps shape RS for the City of York.
• Diane Norton (York St John University): I have served the SACRE for around a year as a representative of YSJ where I lecture on the ITE programmes. My background is in secondary RE teaching with two years working as an RE advisor - a total of going on 30 years as an educator. I think it is important, as an RE specialist, to be involved in SACRE as this is a fantastic forum bringing together like-minded people to make a difference to the quality of RE offered to our local children and students.

Group D:

A group of persons representing the City of York Council. In this case of Elected M embers appointment to this group should ensure political balance and state which political group they represent. As an alternative, the Council may appoint representatives such as a governors association.

• Cllr Robert Webb (Chair) (City of York Council): I am chair of SACRE and the Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education for City of York Council. I am particularly interested in how SACRE can support RE teachers to educate young people about people of faith and others with different world beliefs to help them to become more rounded and engaged world-citizens.
• Cllr Emilie Knight (City of York Council)
• Cllr Martin Rowley BEM (City of York Council)
• Cllr Sarah Wilson (City of York Council): I’m Sarah Wilson, Labour and Cooperative Member for Fishergate Ward. I’m a former Primary School teacher with experience of teaching RE.

Local Authority Officer:

• Maxine Squire (Assistant Director Education and Skills, City of York Council)

Also see

• List of York schools
• Schools and education