School buildings "not good enough"

Inadequate buildings and facilities are causing problem in many schools, according to a survey.

Among the most common complaints were poor ventilation, not enough drinking water, cleanliness, inadequate disabled access, damp and noise.

Both pupil and staff toilets came in for criticism, with just less than one in three respondents rating their facilities as poor or abysmal.

Staffrooms were on the whole judged to be largely satisfactory or better, although about one in six said they were poor or abysmal.

The survey was carried out by the trade union Association of Teachers and Lecturers. Lack of rooms was a big problem in the majority of schools, with more than three out of four saying there were insufficient smaller rooms for mentoring or tutoring.

And more than four out of ten said classrooms were not a suitable size for the number of pupils taught.

Almost six out of ten said that there was no readily accessible sick room available at all times.