A former senior executive at Stonewall and Ofsted has been appointed as Director of a publicly-funded free school group.
Luke Tryl, praised by Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman for his work at Ofsted, will now lead the New Schools Network.
Tryl previously worked for Nicky Morgan, who championed the ‘British values’ regulations.
Public money
At Stonewall he was Head of Education and he served as Director of Corporate Strategy at Ofsted.
Now he will lead the New Schools Network, a charity that promotes free schools and supports people who want to set up such institutions.
It receives money from a variety of sources, including public grants. The Department for Education has previously given it a £3 million grant.
In a press release announcing the move, Amanda Spielman said Tryl had led Ofsted’s strategy work as well as playing a “large part in the development of the new education inspection framework”.
‘Anti-faith’
Earlier this month, Tryl had to defend Ofsted from accusations of promoting secularism.
However, a senior MP recently warned that faith communities feel “incredibly anxious” about the schools’ watchdog and that they believe it delivers an “anti-faith agenda”.
This week Ofsted said it was important for primary-aged children to know about LGBT issues, even if it contradicts parents’ beliefs.
Spielman said there was a “moral case” to do so.
Trust
However, The Christian Institute has challenged this thinking, saying parents who want to protect children’s innocence should not be pushed aside.
Colin Hart, Institute Director, said: “Ofsted have some work to do in restoring the trust of parents who have a religious faith”.