Just days after the resignation of Roke Primary's headteacher, the group in line to turn the school into an academy has put up an advert for the post, despite strong opposition to the change from parents.
The Kenley primary is currently in the midst of high-profile controversy over the Government's intention to turn it into an academy under the control of the Harris Federation, with more than 200 parents starting up a "Save Roke" campaign.
The plan was triggered by a damning Ofsted report last summer, although campaigners claim this was purely the fault of senior management and had nothing to do with the standard of teaching.
Despite an expressed wish by the school to have nearby Riddlesdown Collegiate to act as a sponsor, the Government continues to insist on Harris.
On Tuesday, parents received a letter from Christine Barry, an education consultant, saying she would be taking over as 'executive head' because the current head, Caroline Phillips, would not be returning for the rest of term because of ill-health.
On Thursday, they received another letter from the chairman of governors, Malcolm Farquharson, saying Ms Phillips had if fact decided to "move on" and that Roke Primary was "entering a new phase as we move into the formal stage of the process to become an academy".
Today (Friday), however, it transpired Harris Federation had already put up a job advert for the headteacher role even though the public consultation closed this afternoon and will take three weeks to process.
Becky Carrier, a leading member of the campaign group, said: "Someone must have given Harris permission to do this.
"The consultation only closes today but it looks like a done deal. It seems like they have already decided that it is their school. We'd like to know why."
More on this story in next week's Advertiser.
