Some said that parts of it conflicted with other Government policies. Primary teachers felt they spend an inappropriate amount of time cleaning the classroom, washing paint pots and sharpening pencils,' the report compiled for the review body by BMRB Qualitative said. Preparations for school inspections were considered 'stressful and exhausting'. Schools minister Jacqui Smith said the Government was already funding 20,000 more classroom assistants, giving more support for small schools and had pledged to streamline funding and slash by a third the number of documents sent to schools. Standards in primary schools are rising year on year and we expect workloads to reduce as the strategies bed down,' she said.
Some findings confound expectations.
Class size, the number of pupils with special needs, and levels of poverty all had no impact on working hours, the report said.