Barnet SACRE wins two Awards at the prestigious London Dangoor Awards 2025
- nickburr30
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Our Barnet SACRE (Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education) has won two Awards at the
prestigious London Dangoor Awards 2025:
The first is for the Barnet SACRE Writing Team who have produced the new Barnet Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education.
The Barnet Ann Taves Writing Project, led by Barnet SACRE and the Local Authority and funded by Culham St Gabriel’s, is an innovative and collaborative initiative to produce a modern, inclusive Religious Education curriculum for Barnet’s 133 schools and 63,000 pupils. Using the academic work of Professor Ann Taves and supported by Dr David Robertson and Professor Ann Taves and national religious education Advisers from AREIAC, the project team of teachers, faith representatives, and education specialists have developed a sequential, reflective, and diverse Agreed Syllabus from age four to nineteen. Through an action research approach, they have translated high-level academic theory on religion and worldviews into accessible classroom frameworks, templates, and exemplars. The process has been deeply collaborative and widely consultative, ensuring the syllabus meets the needs of Barnet’s diverse communities. The result is a bold and inclusive curriculum that respects a wide range of beliefs, promotes rich dialogue, strengthens professional networks, and inspires teachers and pupils alike.
The second Award is for the Barnet SACRE Multi Faith Choir:
During, Dr Alan Shaw’s 33 years as a headteacher in Jewish state-aided schools (including most recently Hasmonean Primary in Barnet, he always led choirs and encouraged groups to perform to diverse audiences. He always wondered what it would be like to form a choir from different faith groups but never had the time to do this due to the various pressures of headship. However, when he retired from full-time headship in 2021, he seized the opportunity to form an interfaith choir. As a member of the Barnet SACRE Committee, this seemed an ideal 'umbrella' for the choir and so the Barnet SACRE Interfaith Choir was formed.
The aims of the interfaith choir are:
To show members of the choir that they can be proud of and loyal to their own cherished traditions while being respectful to adherents of other faiths who have their own paths to follow
To show members of the choir that they can work together in a spirit of cooperation to perform music that can be enjoyed by everyone
To demonstrate to other schools that religiously minded children are normal, talented youngsters who enjoy life and their religious lifestyles
To perform at civic events and to other audiences as caring, community minded individuals who wish to contribute to wider society
The repertoire of songs does not consist of any one faith’s liturgy but comprises generic ‘feel good’ songs such as “What a Wonderful World “, Lean on Me”, "We Are One”, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and their own theme song, "We Can All Get Along" (written by Alan Shaw)
Currently, the participating schools are Yavneh Jewish Primary in Hertfordshire, St Joseph's Catholic Primary in Barnet and Krishna Avanti Hindu Primary in Harrow but previously has also included children from Church of England schools. Currently, as of September 2025, they have a combined total of 110 children across the 3 schools in the choir. They hope to include children of other faiths asap. Since their first performance in June 2022, they have had several successful performances including: a cultural performance at the RAF Museum, the Mayor’s Interfaith Event at the Middlesex University, a Coronation Coffee Morning at the Unitarian Church in Hampstead, an Interfaith Peace Vigil, an Interfaith Festival organised by the Zemel Choir, the Mayor's Charity Event, the 2024 Dangoor Awards Ceremony and the annual Barnet SACRE Interfaith Awards ceremonies.
They are going to use the £500 awarded from the Dangoor Awards to record the choir professionally and to start their own dedicated YouTube Channel this year to spread the message of tolerance and respect.
As Award winners both projects receive:
A £500 grant to their project.
Two tickets to see a Royal Albert Hall concert in December this year.
A certificate, presented on the night by David Dangoor CBE, and Carrie Alderton, CEO of the Faith & Belief Forum.
Two tickets to the awards ceremony, including dinner & networking with members of the Greater London Lieutenancy, on 25th November 2025.
Benefits of being in the London Awards network, including opportunities for further training.
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