Education chiefs have defended Kent County Council’s controversial approach to removing heads from failing schools.

The council recently suspended David Bray, head teacher of St Francis Primary School, in Maidstone’s Queen’s Avenue, before consulting the school’s chair of governors, which is a requirement.

At an education cabinet meeting, leader of the council’s Labour Group Cllr Gordon Cowan said he feared this approach is common.

He said: “I’ve had quite a number of head teachers, deputies and even governing bodies in my office over the last 18 months.

"If they get a poor result in Ofsted they fear for their career and a lot of them have been removed.”

He believes there are many teachers with the ability to become school leaders but are frightened to do the role.

“When a head has 25 years of second-to-none service, has one blip and gets removed without sitting down and setting a plan of improvement, I think that’s totally wrong.”

Currently 17 schools across Kent (2.9%) are without a permanent head.

The council says all of these have satisfactory alternative arrangements in place and insist such a number is low for an authority of its size.

The number of applications received for the top teaching job has also dropped, with three or four candidates usually applying.

Patrick Leeson, corporate director of education, learning and skills, defended the council’s position.

He said: “Where leadership during an Ofsted inspection fails it is impossible, I think now, for head teachers to remain and difficult to stay if they have been there for two years or more.

“Where it has been necessary to move a leader on it will only ever be in a case where it’s a necessity for the school.

“Quality of schooling is improving year by year. Now 77% or 78% that were good are outstanding. That was 56% just over two and a half years ago.

“The more schools that are good or outstanding the more confident we can be about heads.”