This newsletter has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council on behalf of Bill Moore, the SACRE Advisor for RE in Slough. This is for the attention of the all Religious Education teachers.
Slough SACRE RE Newsletter
Spring 2026
Happy New Year! We hope that you all had a good Christmas break and arrive back at school at least refreshed if not fully rested; it is hardly a quiet time of year! These are increasingly interesting times for RE, as we look to see if agreement can be found to move RE into the new National Curriculum. More on this later!
Professional Development
There are plenty of opportunities for CPD for RE teachers, either in the shape of training events, or online support and resources.
Local Networks
In 2025-26, after discussions with those who attended this year, we are changing how our networks will be run. In the Autumn and Spring Terms, we will run a separate Primary and Secondary network in each term. Then in the summer term there will be a combined Primary and Secondary network.
Spring Term
Primary Wednesday 28th Jan 2026 4.00pm agenda will focus on
- Any news, good practice and successes to share
- CPD needs and how to meet them
- CaAR report recommendations and the future of RE
- AOB
Secondary Wednesday 11th Feb 2026 4.00pm (Please note the change of date) agenda will focus on
- your views/issues re effective RE/RWVE at KS3
- Training for the AS / a worldviews approach
- CaAR report recommendations and the future of RE
- AOB
Summer Term
Combined Wednesday 10th June 2026 4.00pm
Please note that these are also open to Special Schools.
All will be online via Zoom. I have a mailing list and send out the link via this. If you wish to be added, please contact me (bjvmoore@justbmoore.com) with your email and school, stating whether Primary or Secondary. If an all-through school, I suggest your primary and secondary RE leads attend the appropriate meeting for their phase.
The primary CPD on 20th November was well attended and covered both specific planning using the agreed syllabus from Penn Wood School and ideas on how to use a worldviews approach with the syllabus. If you want some of the materials, contact me (bjvmoore@justbmoore.com) with your name and the neame of your school and I will send them to you.
Reminder: Farmington Scholarships 2026-27
These have been career changers for some and professional boosts for everyone involved. This is probably the CPD Gold-Standard not just in the RE world, but in education as a whole. They are fully funded and allow for research into an area of interest to you. The closing date for applications is Sunday 25th January 2026. Follow this link: Scholarships - Farmington Institute
We keep repeating this, but membership of NATRE is such a good source of support and development. Individual membership runs from £90 per year and school membership from £170. https://www.natre.org.uk/membership/schools/ This includes a termly mailing and access to materials on their website, plus discounts. They have recently re-vamped their website which is easier to access – I believe this is called ‘user-friendly’! Hence the new logo.
Specific aspects include:
A monthly webinar for those new2RE plus other courses, support and resources. The site is open access, but membership gives greater support and materials.
Reminder: Strictly RE 2026 – NATRE is still taking bookings for Strictly RE, but there is the deadline is Fri 23rd Jan, so book as soon as possible! If it helps at all, I am going! https://natre.org.uk/events-courses/strictly-re/#FBFORM
REOnline also provides excellent support both for subject leaders and for teachers. Have a look at their Leadership scholarship Programme. Applications for the 2026-2028 Leadership Scholarship Programme will open on 16th January 2026 and will close on Friday 27th March 2026. Theye will be holding a webinar on Tuesday 10th February 5.30-6.30pm. Is this something you feel would help in your next career move?
Their newsletter is well worth subscribing to. The most recent one (Dec 2025) provided a useful link to a BBC series ‘Prayer and Reflection’, available on I-Player.
They also provide a searchable festival calendar, based on the Shap festival calendar. Link to the Festival calendar
Free Welcome to Worldviews CPD sessions in Spring Term 2026
Jigsaw RE’s Welcome to Worldviews series is specifically designed to help empower teachers to teach high quality RE by addressing the two key issues of subject knowledge and teacher confidence. By providing free, worldview specific webinars, delivered and written by our team of specialist RE advisors, we aim to provide more teachers with the CPD they need to confidently fully embed a range of worldviews in their RE curriculum. Children will therefore gain a broader understanding of the world around them, as well as develop their own worldview, enabling them to foster tolerance and respect in their day-to-day lives.
These are open to all teachers and do not necessitate being a ‘Jigsaw School’.
Access their free webinars here
I am sharing two further aspects of the REHubs website this term:
- News and Blogs: https://www.re-hubs.uk/upskill/find-the-latest-re-rve-r-w-news-blogs/
- How to get involved: https://www.re-hubs.uk/get-involved/get-involved/
Up-coming national events:
Holocaust Memorial Day Tuesday 27th Jan 2026
‘Bridging Generations’ https://hmd.org.uk/hmd-theme-2026/
‘The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) 2026, 'Bridging Generations', is a call-to-action. A reminder that the responsibility of remembrance doesn't end with the survivors - it lives on through their children, their grandchildren and through all of us. This theme encourages us all to engage actively with the past - to listen, to learn and to carry those lessons forward. By doing so, we build a bridge between memory and action, between history and hope for the future…
Bridging Generations highlights the crucial role of the next generation in preserving the memory of the Holocaust and carrying it forward. It highlights the power of intergenerational dialogue – of listening to those who came before us and of sharing those stories with those who come after. In doing so, we don’t just preserve memory – we connect it to the present.’
School resources can be found here.
Holocaust Educational Trust
The Holocaust Educational Trust also provides programmes, resources and training. Holocaust Educational Trust - Outreach Programme (het.org.uk)
You can access their annual webcast here: HMD Webcast 2026 – Thursday, 22nd January 10:00 – 11:00
Spirited Arts 2026
https://natre.org.uk/spirited-arts-main-page/spirited-arts-2026/
The new 2025 themes:
- Faith in our future, hope in our future
- Prayer for all that lives! Animals, Earth, God
- Open Bible!
- Searching for God
- Sacred spaces
- Children of God
Lent and Ramadan 2026
It is interesting to note that Ash Wednesday and the first day of Ramadan fall on the same day, 18th Feb. This provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on common themes (eg fasting, reflection, striving to be the best you can be) and concepts (eg sacrifice, spiritual, community), linking these to lives of Christians and Muslims and building bridges to the pupils’ lives and worldviews, and also to current global issues. This could be in RE lessons, or in collective worship/assembly and possibly exploring these across the curriculum to promote SMSC.
Curriculum and Assessment Review Report
As I am sure you will be aware, the CaAR report published in November recommends that RE become part of the new National Curriculum and the Government has said responded positively to this:
‘We welcome the Review’s work on RE and the careful consideration that the Panel has given, both to how better to support the teaching of the subject, and its potential inclusion in the national curriculum. We will be shaped and guided by the sector on this important issue and, to take further steps on moving forward, there will need to be a clear shared position from the sector on the future of RE. Sector consensus should include views from faith, non-faith and wider school stakeholders on an RE curriculum that could be deliverable within all schools as part of a well-sequenced and structured national curriculum. If the sector reaches a consensus on whether this is achievable, we will consult on the content of a draft RE curriculum and on proposed changes to the legislative framework within which RE sits. As part of this we would seek to ensure that sector consensus should underpin future updates to any new RE curriculum.’
Over this term a task and finishing group will be consulting on how, if at all, to take this forward and will report back to the government by the end of March. There is a real momentum behind this move because, especially within the educational climate and context there are real benefits that it can bring to both teachers and pupils. However, there is also a recognition that it brings potential risks and challenges, with some in particular concerned about RE being controlled by national government. The earliest that any National Curriculum will be ready is Sept 2028 and there is still the chance that the RE sector will not be able to arrive at an agreement. However, Dr Vanessa Ogden, who is leading this process, is growing in confidence that there will be agreement. Any NC document will be minimal and SACREs will continue to support RE locally and build upon the background to well-structured agreed syllabi to support schools in implementing any National Curriculum RE that may be agreed.
Another significant recommendation was that the DfE should consider removing the statutory requirement for learners in school sixth forms to study RE.
Culham St Gabriel’s produced this conversation in response https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DS0SoZiQ-I&t=918s
Both NATRE and NASACRE each produced a response which you can access.
The full report and the government response (scroll down to near the bottom) can be found here.
A reminder about curriculum plans.
Schools must publish their curriculum on their website, providing an overview of each subject curriculum for each year group along with the curriculum intent, implementation and impacts statements. This includes RE. Sough SACRE will be monitoring schools’ curriculum so that we can identify good practice and any support that might be needed.
SACRE hopes that this newsletter contains useful ideas and information to help you in the coming term. SACRE sends very best wishes to you for the new term and as always commends you for all your hard work and dedication.
Bill Moore, Adviser to SACRE. Email: bjvmoore@justbmoore.com