More than 120 teachers a year are leaving their jobs at secondary schools across the Canterbury district, the latest figures reveal.

The pressure of the profession is being blamed for the exodus, which saw 584 staff jump ship or retire between 2013 and 2018.

At Herne Bay High, 20 teachers a year - or 100 in total - left the school, while the Whitstable School lost 94 over the same period.

Peter Read, of Kent Independent Education Advice, says the amount of staff leaving secondaries in the area reflects the difficulties schools are experiencing nationwide.

Figures have shown that about 23% of the 117,000 teachers who trained between 2011 and 2015 had left the job by 2016.

“Teacher turnover is worryingly high across the country; it’s a crisis,” Mr Read said.

“There’s an astonishing number of teachers, nationally, who leave in the first couple of years.

“It’s a massively worrying issue. The consequence of this is the quality of education being offered to children is under threat.”

Mr Read says he receives regular reports of "schools using teaching assistants to make up for the deficiencies".

He attributes the growing exodus to the strain the profession places on inexperienced members of staff.

“I’d say it’s primarily down to the conditions of service,” he said.

"What I’m concerned about is the pressure on teachers and the long hours they have to work.

“School leaders demand results without providing the support needed for teachers to provide them.”

A Department for Education spokesman says the government has launched policies designed to improve career progression and opportunities for staff.

Jon Boyes, the principal of Herne Bay High, argues the high numbers leaving his school are as a result of its size.

“We have a very experienced and stable staffing body of more than 210 employees,” he added.

“The data supplied includes all staff who left the school regardless of length or type of contract, including the school’s direct trainees and temporary cover staff.

“Our turnover averages 7% of our staffing body which is healthy in developing an organisation.”

The Spires Academy in Sturry closely followed Herne Bay High and the Whitstable School by losing 89 teachers over the five-year period.

But its principal, Nicki Mattin, says it has managed to retain greater numbers since it was rated good by Ofsted in 2017.

Back in 2013 this was a school that required improvement and we had significant issues in terms of teaching and learning,” she said.

“Also, when Chaucer closed in 2015 we were the main receiver of its pupils and so we had a lot of temporary staff over that period.

“There was turbulence and challenges for us in terms of the standard of teaching and learning until 2017.

“Since 2017, that has completely changed. This is a good, stable school and we have excellent staff who are settled and doing a great job."