Supporting and developing leadership in RE and collective worship
East of England
The East of England region
The East of England Region of a large geographic area (Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire).
Welcome to the eastern AREIAC group. With exciting research, school projects, collaborations, curriculum developments, Farmington scholarships and more there is so much to share and be excited by. Do come and join us.
The Eastern Region was the first of the AREIAC groups to offer a completely online meeting experience, and this will be continuing. It means that you are welcome to share the zoom code with any of our AREIAC members. We are also happy for you to bring a member along to observe and get a taster of the meetings if they are thinking of joining too.
Thank you to everyone who attended our final Eastern Region meeting of the academic year in July. It was great to see so many of you, with thoughtful discussions and valuable updates from across the region.
A key part of our meeting was a national discussion about supporting advisers in responding to coordinated action relating to Religious Education, including approaches involving parents and SACRE elected members. We discussed the possibility of establishing a national AREIAC advisers group, providing a space to share experiences, collaborate on guidance and explore effective partnership working with local authority communications teams.
If you would be interested in leading or joining a national advisers group, please get in touch with me goochkv@gmail.com. We are keen to hear from advisers who would like to help shape this work.
Existing FAQ resources, developed with Ruth Peacock, are available on the AREIAC website.
Other highlights included John Semmens' introduction to the proposed Anti-Hate and Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) project in Norfolk, and Gill Georgiou's update on a Case Studies Project, which is showing encouraging early indications of impact in primary schools. Gill is happy to share more about the work with anyone interested.
We also warmly welcome Louisa Jane Smith as the new Eastern Region Lead from spring 2027. The group unanimously agreed her appointment, and we look forward to the expertise and enthusiasm she will bring to the regional group and AREIAC Executive
Upcoming meetings:
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Tuesday 20th October, 2026: 16:30-18:00 [online]
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Tuesday 8th February, 2027: 16:30-18:00 [online]
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Wednesday 17th May, 2027: 16:30-18:00 [online]
Warmest wishes
Katie GOOCH.
