Agenda item

7.1. Hillingdon Council

7.2. Interfaith Calendar

7.3. RE in schools

7.4. Interfaith Dialogue Event January 2026

7.5. Workforce Data

Agenda item 7.1 (Hillingdon Council)

It was noted that a letter drafted by the Head of Education and Lifelong Learning had been sent to Cllr Susan O’Brien, Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education asking her to kindly raise awareness of the work of Hillingdon SACRE amongst elected Members. It was believed that said letter had been forwarded to the Leader of the Council but that no further action had been taken to date.

Dorothy Sadlik informed the SACRE that she had also written a letter to the Cabinet Member regarding the online Secondary Schools Interfaith Dialogue on Religious Persecution and Holocaust Memorial Day. A heartfelt response had been received which was much appreciated.

It was suggested that the Cabinet Member could be invited to attend a future meeting of Hillingdon SACRE. It was also suggested that training regarding SACRE be incorporated into new Member induction in the future.

It was agreed that the Head of Education and Lifelong Learning would update the Cabinet Member on the work of the SACRE at one of his regular meetings with her. The SACRE Advisor would produce a summary to facilitate this.

Agenda item 7.2 (Interfaith Calendar)

It was confirmed that the winners had been chosen and the calendar would be sent to the designers. The theme was ‘life events that are special to me’. Members were requested to check the calendar dates included in the agenda pack and inform the SACRE Advisor and clerk of any anomalies by 20 April 2026 at the latest.

Agenda item 7.3 (RE in schools)

The SACRE Advisor confirmed that a session with teachers had been held earlier that day. The RE syllabus had been reviewed and representatives of 12 or 13 local schools had been in attendance with apologies received from a further 8 schools. One teacher had expressed an interest in joining Hillingdon SACRE.

Agenda item 7.4 (Interfaith Dialogue Event January 2026)

Dorothy Sadlik congratulated the SACRE Advisor on the excellent online Schools Interfaith Dialogue event aimed at secondary school pupils noting that education was key. The theme of the event was ‘Why Remember?’ with a focus on religious persecution. Pupils had received a pack in advance of the event. They had then participated in an online session with speakers from a variety of religions and worldviews and were provided with an opportunity for reflection thereafter. Topics discussed were persecution, sacrifice and martyrdom. It was reported that the event had been well-received and could be repeated in 2027. The focus of the next event might be ‘good and evil’ and hence would be inclusive of primary aged children.

It was confirmed that the SACRE Advisor had been contacted by the Faith Belief Forum and was working on a bespoke Hillingdon Schools’ Linking Programme – sessions would focus on identity, community, commonality and cohesion. It was reported that Hewens College had already registered to be involved in this.

Agenda item 7.5 (Workforce Data)

Workforce data from the DfE was presented to SACRE members. It was noted that the unvalidated data covered secondary schools only and showed the % of curriculum time dedicated to the teaching of RE. It was confirmed that 5% was recommended but this was not set out in law and was rarely complied with. It was highlighted that many schools failed to teach RE to year 12 and 13 pupils although the law stated that they should.

Examinations results data was also presented. It was noted that no Hillingdon schools had entered pupils for the RE short course – most had entered them for the full GCSE. The data showed the % of pupils who had achieved a grade 9-4 and the results were encouraging. It was observed that the % of pupils taking RE ‘A’ level was very low. The importance of RE in supporting literacy and contributing to other subjects was highlighted.

RESOLVED: That the Local Updates be noted.