Will new ministers have any new ideas?

Their motivations and potential change agendas are indiscernible from their political CVs, and they may not have any such clear ideas yet, entering their roles "in listening mode".

For the children's sector, the big concern to come out of this reshuffle must surely be the loss of learning and relationship-building that Hinds' predecessor Justine Greening, and more recently former children's minister Robert Goodwill, had been doing in the aim of becoming authoritative political leaders on their huge responsibilities. Like a Men in Blackmemory wipe, the new year brings new leaders with new responsibilities, briefs to learn and relationships to build.

In the immediate glare of this sudden change, we are left to fill in the gaps of what it might mean by reading between the lines. For example, some were worried by the lack of reference to social workers or children in care in Hinds' first statement - was it an oversight, a sign of low priority, or a hint at a bigger change? Is the removal of Greening a sign that grammar school promotion will return to prominence? These kind of anxieties, even if later proven unfounded, destabilise an already worried, and frankly exhausted, children's sector.