A SECONDARY school is offering a £125,000 salary for its new headteacher.

The hefty pay packet for the new leader at Colchester’s Philip Morant School and College is thought to be one of the highest in the country.

The job spec, advertised by the Times Educational Supplement, asks for an “amazing” candidate to lead the 1,600-pupil school and its 400 staff.

The school was told it needed to improve by Ofsted inspectors last year.

It has been run by acting head Rob James since Roger Abo-Henriksen retired last summer.

Mr James, a former deputy headteacher at Philip Morant, will continue until next September, when the full-time head is due to start.

Lorna Kean, chairman of governors, said in a statement: “The position is the governors have a duty to recruit the very best candidate for this most important role in our school, which will ensure that our students continue to receive the very best education.

“We are a large school and college and the salary advertised is within the guidelines of the Teachers' Pay and Conditions set by the Government and is comparable with that offered by other schools.”

However the salary will vastly exceed that of the average head teacher’s salary in a state school - £61,000, according to the Department for Education.

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