A head teacher who has turned around the fortunes of a "broken school" has been loaned to another academy trust to fill an urgent gap in its leadership team.

Matthew Tate, of Hartsdown Academy in Margate, has temporarily left the school to begin a secondment until June.

He will take on a role at the Turner Schools trust, which has locations in Folkestone, Dover and Canterbury with provisions for four to 18-year-olds.

Mr Tate’s move is reportedly being made in order to fill an urgent gap in Turner Schools’ leadership team.

Announcing the news to parents, Hartsdown’s chair of governors, Vicky Pottinger, said: “This opportunity not only reflects his exceptional leadership skills but also represents a significant achievement for our school as we continue to strengthen our connections with other educational organisations.

“We are proud of the positive impact Hartsdown Academy has made within our community.”

Ian Wallace will step up as acting head of school in his absence.

Mr Tate has developed a reputation in education circles for his work at the Thanet school, which he previously described as being “broken”.

He told Schools Week in 2023: “When I became head teacher in 2016, it was a broken school. It had played the accountability game and lost, and financial changes and a drop in rolls had finished the job. It was under-subscribed in every year group.

“Our cohort is mainly white working-class with over 60% on free school meals, around 15% Slovakian Roma and an average reading age of seven on arrival.

“Our community is highly mobile with only 71% of our year 11s starting with us in year seven. Around 20% of our cohort are being supported by social services or early help.

“My primary questions were “is this school good enough for my child?” and “would I be happy if my child had SEND or childhood traumas and got this level of support?”.

“In 2016, my answer was no and my promise to parents was that I would make the changes required so that I could answer yes.”

Mr Tate made headlines in 2016 after sending home more than 50 pupils in a row over uniform, prompting one parent to compare his strict actions to that of the Gestapo – the secret police of Nazi Germany.

‘His experience and expertise have been a welcome addition to our team…’

Police even had to intervene after furious parents protested, with issues such as shoes and skirt length being an issue.

Despite the criticism, he has continued to be vocal about his views towards education.

In 2020, he made an emotive plea for schools to remain open in the face of increasing pressure to close due to Covid-19.

Writing in a blog, Matt's Ink, he also opened up about his childhood experiences of Christmas, when he suffered abuse at the hands of his father.

On his secondment, a spokesperson for Turner Schools said: "As multi-academy trusts serving similar communities in the same region, Turner Schools and Coastal Academies Trust (CAT) often collaborate closely, sharing skills and resources to support each other and benefit our students.

“When we identified an immediate need for additional leadership support in our central team, discussions with CAT led to the decision for Matt to join us on a short-term basis while we recruit a permanent director of secondary education.

“His experience and expertise have been a welcome addition to our team, and we are incredibly grateful to CAT for their generosity in 'loaning' him to us.”