£110,000 for head of problem school

One of London's worst comprehensives is offering a record salary to a head who can save it from closure.

Burlington Danes Church of England School in White City will pay the right candidate £110,000 a year, the highest salary in the state sector.

He or she will have the task of improving on exam results and a discipline record so dire that education watchdog Ofsted has threatened to shut the school if it fails to improve.

Under the previous head, Margaret Craig, the behaviour of younger pupils was particularly poor. Teachers were guilty of failing to apply the school's disciplinary code consistently and some had lost control of their classes, said Ofsted.

Only 32 per cent of pupils got five GCSEs at grade C or better last year, well below the national average, despite millions of pounds being spent on a new sports hall, gym and classrooms.

The advert in today's Times Educational Supplement calls for the "ability, drive and experience" to transform an " innercity school in challenging circumstances".

Hammersmith and Fulham council said in a statement: "The governors want to appoint an exceptional leader."

The previous record starting salary for a comprehensive head was the £92,000 paid to Michael Murphy, head of Crown Woods School in Eltham in 2000.

He too was charged with rescuing a school judged to be failing by Ofsted and is now certain to be paid well over ?100,000 a year. Professor John Howson of Oxford Brookes University said there was a dwindling number of heads with the experience to tackle the problems of a school like Burlington Danes. Because they were in such short supply, they could expect to earn much more than in the past, he added.

John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, said the figure appeared large but was entirely reasonable, given the responsibilities that came with the job of an inner-city head.