Teachers in a primary school generally are assigned one group of students for the year. Rather than specializing in a few subjects, the teacher is responsible for the entire lesson plan and a number of subjects. The teacher usually has another educator take over for a specialized subject such as gym or music. This gives the core teacher some prep time.
Primary schools are smaller than middle schools and high schools. This in part due to the smaller student population and also due to the fact that the students are also physically smaller. The school typically has a library, gym, offices, playground and other features found in other schools. The furniture will be a lot smaller to accommodate the smaller students. Because children grow quickly, the size of the furniture in a grade 1 class might be much smaller than that in a grade 5 class.
Lessons are typically divided into smaller time segments. A university lecture might be three hours long, but a long lesson in elementary school would be 45 minutes. Typically, students switch subjects every 15 minutes to 45 minutes, depending on the lesson plan. Students also have two 15-minute breaks, called recess, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Students also have 45 minutes to one hour for lunch.
Besides teachers, the school also has several support staff members. These include the principal, secretaries, janitors and librarian. The school might also have adjunct teachers. These are teachers who come occasionally to the school and do not work there full-time. They could be music teachers, guidance counselors or teachers of other subjects that do not have enough students to demand a daily presence.