TWO Harrow headteachers earn more than £100,000 a year, the Observer can reveal – with one banking the second-highest basic pay possible.
None of the people who run the borough's state secondary schools take home less than £72,000, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show.
The highest earner is Dr John Reavley, who runs one of Harrow's smallest secondary schools in the shape of Rooks Heath College for Business and Enterprise in South Harrow and for which his wage is just over £103,000. He was described in an 2008 Ofsted inspection report as "extremely skilled at leading and managing people" and five years ago won The RAF Award for Headteacher of the Year in a Secondary School in London.
His compatriot Howard Freed, who manages the borough's largest school in the shape of Pinner's Nower Hill High School, earns a shade above £100,000.
At £72,299, the pay cheque of Pauline Atkins, the headteacher at Kingsley High School, a special school in Harrow, is the lowest while Paul Gamble, who has been Harrow High School and Sports College's acting headteacher since March 29, gets £75,782.
Although headteachers are technically employed by Harrow Council, their individual salaries are set by each school's governing body based on a national 43-point pay scale that, for outer London boroughs, begins at £39,523 and rises to £105,640; Dr Reavley lies at pay point 42 and Mr Freed at 41.
Governors have to select the remuneration from within a specific range that is largely determined by the number of children the school has and its staff-to-pupil ratio and may bolster the basic wage with both additional allowances for taking on extra duties and discretionary payments to help recruit and retain employees.
However, a Harrow Council spokesman said: "The council is not party to any additional salary achievements awarded by individual school governing bodies but the payroll department within the council is not aware of any such payments."
Education secretary Michael Gove announced on August 9 that he intends to refer the matter of whether to introduce a cap on headteachers’ pay to the School Teachers’ Review Body as part of a wider investigation into the remuneration of school leaders.
Who earns what - see page 2
School / pupils / headteacher / basic salary
Bentley Wood High School for Girls / 797/ Janice Howkins / £77,596
Canons High School / 771 / Lynn Rowlands /£79,446
Harrow High School and Sports College / 701 / Paul Gamble (acting) / £75,782
Hatch End High School / 1411 /Sue Maguire /£87,328
Kingsley High School / 59 / Pauline Atkins /£72,299
Nower Hill High School / 1480 / Howard Freed /£100,687
Park High School / 1282 / Emlyn Lumley /£91,572
Rooks Heath College For Business and Enterprise / 902 / Dr John Reavley / £103,130
Salvatorian College / / Andrew Graham / £80,730 to £92,236
Shaftesbury High School / 113 / Paul Williams / £75,782
Whitmore High School / 1219 / Susan Hammond / £85,284
NB: The Sacred Heart Language School did not reply to the Observer's request
