My daughter came home from school recently with a frown on her face and dragging her feet the way that sulking kids often do.
What was wrong, I asked. “I’m rubbish at maths,” she said. “I’m in the wrong group, and I’m struggling. I need to be moved down. Charlie said that it’s because girls can’t do maths. I’m too slow and I’m just rubbish.”
The three forms in my daughter’s year are grouped by ability in phonics and numeracy, even in year 1. The rights or wrongs of such a system are a subject for another day, but I have faith that her teachers know what they are doing. It is not surprising to us, her parents, that she is in the “top” set. Even setting aside the obvious bias of loving parents she is able, articulate and generally a confident child.
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