The man responsible for all of Britain's schools visited Colston's recently to see for himself what is happening at the school.He listened to a storytelling class in Reception, and saw a Phonics lesson in Year 1, before meeting with Headteacher Mr. Gavaghan and Joint Chairs of Governors Paul Bowtell and Simon Read.

Paul Bowtell commented that "Jim Knight's visit was a great opportunity for us to show him the tremendous achievements of our pupils and staff. We are pleased that he chose to come to Colston's having heard that our diverse community was a real strength of the school. We were able to discuss with him our concerns regarding the funding formula used for schools in Bristol, and the narrowness of the criteria used by Ofsted in its evaluations. We are grateful for his time and hope that he can use our input to good effect in his role as Schools' Minister".

Jim Knight's principal policy areas include raising school standards including national tests, the national curriculum, school funding and capital including Building Schools for the Future, and school workforce issues.Before entering Parliament, he managed a publishing company, based in the West Country, for 10 years. Prior to that, he managed arts venues and worked for a small scale travelling theatre company. He is married with two children.