Welcome Katie and farewell Chris

We are delighted to announce that Katie Gooch will be joining RE Hubs in January as our East Anglia RE Hubs Lead. This means we bid farewell to Chris Allen. 

Claire Clinton, Lead Director for England and Wales RE Hubs, commented:

'It has been a pleasure to work for the last three years with Chris Allen. He has been a highly valued member of the RE Hubs team and we are proud of the new position he moves into from January in Norfolk. I am glad to be able to announce that Katie Gooch will be replacing Chris as our RE Hub lead for east Anglia. Katie will be well known to many people in our RE community and brings a wealth of knowledge, practice and expertise to this new role for her. We are thrilled to have her start her work for us in January.'

Welcome to Katie

Katie is a Primary Curriculum Lead for United Learning, a large multi academy trust. She has led the design of a research-informed, inclusive and academically rigorous primary Religion and Worldviews curriculum and contributed to national curriculum discourse through conference presentations and publications in Impact Journal, Teach Primary, RE Today and the RE Council’s Religion and Worldviews Toolkit.

As an independent RE adviser, Katie writes primary resources for a number of platforms and provides CPD, subject knowledge and leadership development for schools. She advises on curriculum content and delivery for initial teacher training in primary RE.

Previously, Katie was Religion and Worldviews Subject Lead at Sidegate Primary School in Ipswich for over a decade. She has served on Suffolk SACRE, the NATRE Executive and is currently Co-Vice Chair of AREIAC.

Katie has completed Levels One and Two of the Culham St Gabriel’s Trust RE Leadership Programme and is committed to supporting new and aspiring leaders in RE, helping secure access to high-quality RE for all learners. You can follow her on Twitter, BlueSky and Linked-in.

Farewell to Chris

Chris wanted to share this message with everyone:

'It has been an immense pleasure and privilege to lead the RE Hubs for the East of England since its inception three years ago. The diversity to the role both invigorates and challenges me on a daily basis – something on which I have thrived. However, from January 2026 I will be no longer in post as I take on the new challenge of Diocesan Director of Education for the Diocese of Norwich. My new role sees me having oversight for 16,000 young people in 107 church schools in the diocese.

RE Hubs has a special place in my heart and life. It stands for everything I believe in. I am passionate about connecting the RE community and improving support for RE Teachers and outcomes of young people. The amazing team of hub leads and our director each bring a unique set of skills to our work. Work that we have been proudly independently undertaking and growing over the last three years.

My replacement, Katie Gooch, is an excellent pair of hands to continue to grow the RE Hubs role in the East of England as well as nationally through her AREIAC work. Her recent appointment has afforded a timely handover period. This means she should hit the ground running and be able to find her stride quiet quickly in the new role. I wish her and RE Hubs every success going forwards. I will always remain a strong advocate for the RE community I have diligently served in recent years and will continue to support in my new role.

Long may RE Hubs thrive and grow!'