Boris Johnson said to have praised free school, run by ex-minister’s academy chain, as “the best”

Boris Johnson is said to have described a school, set up by the Conservative peer and former education minister Lord Nash, as “the best he had ever visited”.

The statement features on the website of Pimlico Primary, in Westminster, central London. It relates to his visit to the free school with the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, last month as the Prime Minister sought to promote more free schools.

Pimlico Primary is part of Future Academies, a chain of seven schools founded and still chaired by Lord Nash, who oversees its operations with his wife, Lady Caroline. It has a traditionalist flavour, featuring compulsory Latin and a “knowledge-rich” approach to the curriculum which has included secondary-style subject teaching in its primary schools.

On its website, the school reports of the visit on the afternoon of Tuesday, September 10th: “We were honoured to have the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Education visit Pimlico Primary on the afternoon of Tuesday 10 September.

“They were bowled over by our high-quality, knowledge-rich curricula, and our excellent teaching. Furthermore, they were astounded by the depth and breadth of the children’s knowledge.