Lord Harris offers his teachers cheap carpets

The flooring discounts of 15 per cent are part of the recruitment and retention incentives being drawn up for academy schools sponsored by Lord Harris of Peckham, head of the Carpetright chain.

Daniel Moynihan, chief executive of the Harris Federation of South London Schools, stressed that the proposals, which are being finalised and are due to be put to its board tomorrow, were designed to make staff "feel valued".

The benefits being discussed include bonuses of up to £200 for achieving good exam results and pupil attendance, medical insurance, as well as 15 per cent off carpets, rugs, laminate and vinyl at any Carpetright store.

The "attractive package", which is intended to "recruit and retain the very best teaching and support staff", also includes a payment of up to £300 a year for a 100 per cent attendance record, an outstanding teacher prize of £100 annually, a 50 per cent subsidy for a master's degree and up to £50 for books and courses.

The planned payments for the Harris Federation - which includes schools in Bermondsey, Crystal Palace, East Dulwich, Merton, Peckham, and South Norwood - were hailed by Cyril Taylor, chairman of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, as a "fantastic idea".

However, while some teachers may take advantage of the discounts on a new carpet, a bit of vinyl or a rug, a union condemned the move. Chris Keates, general secretary of teachers' union the NASUWT, dismissed the special offer as "more about boosting the profits of the academy sponsor than boosting educational standards".

She added: "Bonuses of this nature are divisive and ill-conceived."

Roger Peel, membership secretary of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, told the Financial Times that payment by results in schools could split the "common room at a stroke".

Mr Moynihan, though, defended the packages and stressed that teachers at the federation's schools already earned "state school terms and conditions plus".

He added that bonuses at the Harris schools aimed to reflect the fact that teachers worked a longer week and year than at at many other state schools.

Academies have greater freedoms than most state schools, though Children's Secretary Ed Balls announced this year that they would have to teach the national curriculum in maths, English and information and communications technology.