'Superhead' was driven to breakdown

Peter Crook was known as a "superhead" who could turn around even the toughest failing school.

The 57-year-old spent five years at the Harris Academy in Peckham and said he was driven to a breakdown after having to cope with violence from pupils and parents, as well as teachers who rarely turned up to class.

In 2002, Mr Crook took over at Warwick Park, the sink school run by Southwark council that became the Harris Academy in 2003.

When he joined, it was one of the worst schools in Britain, with only 12 per cent of children getting five GCSEs. When he left, its GCSE success rate had rocketed to 38 per cent.

But dealing with violence in the school and incompetent teachers finally took its toll in 2007 when he had a breakdown and was forced into early retirement.

He said: "Something just snapped. I was taken to hospital and spent quite a long time there.I didn't realise I was under that kind of pressure. The academies unit described it as the hardest headship in Europe. If there is a harder one, then good luck to that person."

The school had to have its own policeman on site and all staff were issued with walkie-talkies. Corridors could be locked at the touch of a button and community workers were employed to monitor violence on nearby council estates that might spill over into school.

Mr Crook, who was paid a six-figure salary to run the academy, said that knife crime and assaults on staff by parents were constant issues, but it was constantly absent teachers that caused the greatest problems.

"One boy told me he had had 11 different teachers for English - this was a child in his GCSE year," he said. "Why should he bother doing his coursework when there was hardly ever a teacher there the next day to take it in and mark it?"

Mr Crook dismissed many of the teachers, but said his refusal to pay compensation led to employment tribunals.

He said: "You cannot give up because that is what local councils do - pay off six months of salary or make huge ex-gratia payments. You have to stand firm. But the personal cost of taking it on is very hard."

After he retired, another head was appointed but she left after four terms. An "executive" head now shuttles between two academies.

A Harris Academy spokesman said: "It is inevitable that community issues will from time to time spill over into the academy."