Welcome to Derby SACRE
We are the Derby Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education and our abbreviated name, SACRE, is pronounced "Sack-Ray".
The horizontal menu bar above allows you to navigate our site - unless your browser has blocked JavaScripts and made it invisible.
The views on this site are those of the SACRE and its members - they are not necessarily those of Derby City Council.
Please click here to link to the Derby City Council RE web page.
Derby SACRE does not accept responsibility for the contents of any external web sites that may be linked to from this site.
Revising the RE syllabus
We are currently revising the RE syllabus for all Derby schools.
Please click here for more details.
We want to hear from YOU
Everyone has an opinion about what should go on in schools - and everyone has an opinion about Religious Education. Some people still see it as Religious Instruction (as it was in the past), some see it as a way to promote their own beliefs, other see it as a way of informing young people about all types of belief to promote understanding and social cohesion and to enable them to decide for themselves which belief, religious or otherwise, they follow as adults.
This site is for the benefit of everyone interested in the role of religion and belief in Derby schools: pupils, students, parents, teachers, SACRE members and the wider community.
All of education is a two way process - it is as important for educators to listen to those being educated as it is the other way round. We have responsibility for advising on religion and belief in Derby schools and we welcome contributions, comments or suggestions from anyone in our community.
We are currently revising the RE syllabus for all Derby schools so your opinions would be most valuable to us.
Our aim
Our aim is to fulfil the legal obligations placed upon us and to promote social cohesion by providing pupils and students with impartial, comprehensive and frank information about all religious and non-religious beliefs within our community.
Our members represents a wide range of religious and non-religious beliefs and we work together in the best interests of pupils, students, teachers, parents and the wider community. We have differences of opinion and you will find these reflected on this site.
Derby Open Centre
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We are very fortunate in having Derby Open Centre as a resource to support RE and other subjects in schools. The Centre is a charity based on Pear Tree Road in Derby.
Over the last 26 years tens of thousands of pupils from Derby and Derbyshire have benefitted from visits and workshops organised by the Centre.
The Centre has been busy this year restructuring the services it offers to fit with the new RE syllabus for Derbyshire. As we revise the syllabus for Derby City we will be working with the Centre to provide the resources that teachers require in schools.
Social Cohesion is a very high priority for all schools - in fact they now have a legal obligation to promote understanding, to break down barriers between communities and to replace ignorance and prejudice with understanding and welcome. The Open Centre is unique in the UK by promoting Social Cohesion in a practical manner by introducing pupils to the different communities that make up the single culture we all share.
The Centre provides visits to a wide range of place of worship, including Mosques, Hindu Temples and Sikh Gurdwaras. It offers workshops, at the Centre itself and on-site in schools, on a wide variety of topics including Indian and Afro Caribbean food, a Hindu wedding and Mehndi (henna) hand painting. It also provides CRB-checked staff to take assemblies, give lessons/talks or to take part in debates.
Teachers can contact the Centre and make bookings for its services through its web site: www.DerbyOpenCentre.org.
Derby SACRE fully supports the work of Derby Open Centre.
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www.DerbyOpenCentre.org |
Remaining impartial in a world of controversy
The RE syllabus we provide for local schools does not shy away from controversial topics and we endeavour to provide open, honest, comprehensive and impartial information to help young people decide for themselves about which belief, religious or otherwise, they decide to follow.
We make no judgement about the truth or validity of any sets of beliefs, we do not promote any specific set of beliefs and we take no side in the god/no-god debate.
We believe that we share a common culture to which each of us should contribute depending on our different backgrounds as individuals and groups. We are secure in our differences and proud of the society in which we share common rights and responsibilities.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DfCSF) "Guidance on the duty to promote community cohesion" (2007) says:
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"Local authorities, religious or non-religious organisations, SACREs and other voluntary and community organisations have an important role in supporting schools to discharge the duty to promote community cohesion."
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We take this role very seriously and recognise that no matter what differences of opinion we may have about religious issues, we all have to live together as harmoniously as possible.
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