The head of Scotland's leading education authority has accused the rector of a private school of "discourtesy".

The accusation from John Wilson, East Renfrewshire's director of education, came after Kelvinside Academy in Glasgow sent marketing leaflets to the headteacher of one of its nursery schools.

In a letter to John Broadfoot, rector of Kelvinside Academy, Mr Wilson said it was "discourteous in the extreme" to approach a council school directly for the purpose of enlisting pupils.

"This is the second case of a private school thinking it has some sort of right to approach our parents directly through our schools," he said. "We regard ourselves as being in competition with private schools, so if they want to distribute material to attempt to cream off our most able pupils, we also want the right to recruit their most able local youngsters for East Renfrewshire schools."

However, Mr Broadfoot said there was no deliberate policy of targeting East Renfrewshire pupils.

"We circulate details to some nurseries where pupils have come to us in the past, but there is not a policy of targeting East Renfrewshire schools," he said.

"It is also entirely up to the nurseries involved if they choose to display the material."

In June, Mr Wilson wrote to Hutchesons' Grammar School in Glasgow asking the deputy head to alert parents to the benefits of a state school education.

The move came after Hutchesons' sent a flyer to parents at an East Renfrewshire primary school championing the benefits of a private school education.