Image: Ryan Stanton

A “superhead” brought in to help a struggling Croydon primary school has been sacked after just two days.

Craig Tunstall is reported to have suspended seven pupils in his 48-hour stint as headmaster at the Oval Primary School in Croydon.

Reasons reported for the children’s exclusions included not lining up quickly enough, not wearing a coat, and refusing to finish a school dinner.

Mr. Tunstall arrived at the school on 17 February after the former head teacher, Ruth Johnston quit, but was relieved of his duties before the end of the following day.

The council is expected to announce the appointment of a new head teacher on Monday.

A spokeswoman for Croydon Council said: “Following an Ofsted inspection of Oval Primary which placed the school into special measures, the Local Authority brokered a deal with Gipsy Hill Federation to manage the school and help address the issues raised.

“The council has a strong record of setting up partnerships with schools and has done so very successfully in the past. On this occasion it became clear the arrangement would not work and the authority took swift action to resolve it.

“We expect to announce new arrangements to be in place immediately following half term, and will make a further statement in due course.”

Oval Primary School was recently placed on special measures after a damning report by Ofsted in December.

Mr Tunstall remains executive head of the Gipsy Hill Federation, which runs two other primary schools in Lambeth.

The Evening Standard revealed last year that Mr Tunstall was the eighth-highest paid headmaster in London, earning a salary of  £137,991, and a total package of £151,835. On average a primary school headteacher earns around £55,000 a year.

Additional reporting by Meabh Nig Uidhir