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There was sympathy for Justine Greening following her resignation, and regret from many in the sector who have welcomed her less combative approach and her willingness to listen to teachers’ concerns.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said her departure was disappointing at a time when stability was needed in the sector after the “policy pyrotechnics” of recent years.

He said:

She has tried hard to tackle the school funding crisis, without any help from the Chancellor or Prime Minister. She has demonstrated an absolute commitment to social mobility, to addressing the serious difficulties in teacher recruitment and retention, and to developing education policy on the basis of evidence.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers said: “Free from needless ‘big ticket’ policy announcements significant progress has been made lately on areas like primary assessment.”

He praised Greening’s work on careers’ guidance in schools, sex and relationships education and social mobility.

Children need stability and their teachers can only provide that if the backdrop of education policy provides continuity for the profession. New secretaries of state often feel that new announcements are obligatory. In 2018, where budgets are at breaking point and recruitment is still a massive challenge, education does not need more upheaval.

Jules White, head teacher and a key figure in the Worth Less? Campaign for fair funding for schools, added: “The issues of teacher supply, adequate funding and opportunity for all young people must be effectively and urgently addressed.”

He noted that the new education secretary was a former grammar school pupil – unlike Greening who went to a comprehensive – with a stated commitment to improving social mobility.

We hope that he fully understands these two items are inextricably linked whilst all the independent evidence confirms that grammar schools and widespread social mobility are mutually exclusive.

Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the National Education Union, said: