Martyn Knapton, head of geography at St George Community College in Bristol: “Guaranteed time to plan and prepare would be a step forward for raising achievement, but only if the schools can really guarantee it. I find it difficult to pass work on to teaching assistants because you have to explain what you need, and when you are up to your eye-balls in it, there’s no time for that.”

Daisy Harman, teacher at Ravenstone primary in Balham, south London: “I think there really should be a limit on the hours that we work, rather than just a reduction in the time we have to be in the classroom.”

Gary Turner, IT teacher and Year 10 manager at The City School in Sheffield: “I can see why they don’t support the 35-hour week, because if we all downed tools it would be anarchy.”

Denise Horne, classroom assistant at Archbishop Blanch School, an all-girls’ secondary in Liverpool: “I do have some time set aside each week to do admin work for teachers in the English department, but I wouldn’t want to do that on a permanent basis. My main concern is working with pupils. I think giving teachers extra time to do their paperwork is a good idea, because they should have more time to teach.”

Sophie Brooks, head of English at Lockleaze secondary school in Bristol:

“How are they going to monitor this guaranteed preparation time? I’ve tried limiting the hours I work at home each night, but at this time of year it’s difficult because of the pressures of the exams and Year 10 course work. If the Government did reduce the number of new initiatives they announce that could make a real difference, because teachers can become demoralised and cynical about them.”

Michael Shaw