Lord (Andrew) Adonis: Tony Blair’s former education adviser came out of the shadows and into the House of Lords and Department for Education and Skills as junior schools minister.
Kevan Collins left as director of the Primary National Strategy to become head of children’s services in Tower Hamlets. He was replaced by Paul Wagstaff, a senior manager in Ofsted’s curriculum division.
David Normington, Department for Education and Skills permanent secretary moved to the Home Office, after steering the DfES through the A-level fiasco, criminal records bureau debacle and seeing off cuts among his staff.
David Bell, the chief inspector, moves to the top civil servant’s job at the DfES, where he can put right all the problems his inspection reports have highlighted. Whether he will take with him his dictum that “satisfactory” is no longer good enough, remains to be seen.
