http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/201 ... -streaming


sorry, but I'm quite angry at the thought of some children being branded failures for not being employable at ****ing 12.

Blimey, it's like having an Eleven+, a grammer school and secondary school all in one.

Lets face it, this is just wrong on so many levels, even if their "slightly better than random guesses" about pupils turn out to be right. I fail to see why they should eat and play seperately. Sure, put them in sets (streamed classes per subject), but that's it.

This will kill social mobility as you won't be able to move up if you're in the wrong set/school.

They are not even allowed to play with each other at break time? That is bad.

Banding by ability is one thing, it has always been done, in order to give pupils the right level. But segregating them is despicable, especially color coordinating, that would seem to promote bullying, name calling and a feeling of inadequacy among those in lesser groups...

Or perhaps those that really can't give a damn will be out of the way of those that want to, and can, do better.

I'm not sure I entirely agree with it, but I'm not sure I entirely disagree with it either...

I’m glad I’m not a Gamma. But they do work awfully hard.

It also ignores different ability in different subjects. Having different uniforms will make it much easier to pick out the smart kids to bully them. Maybe that is why they have separate play times. Streaming is fine, though it should be by subject. What if you were exceptional in one subject but average in others?

my school was "colour coded" we had segregation groups for "normal and intelligant stay in the classrooms, troublemakers who got chucked into tiny little rooms fit for 3 people and not normal people and special needs = SEN base

In this week's episode, Bratty makes a salient point.

All schools have segregation anyway - there's always "superior" and "inferior" groups in any cohort. And there's no getting around the evidence that comprehensive education just doesn't work.

There are many factors as to why they may or may not work. I got through a comprehensive system okay. Streaming is good as bright pupils get more support which helps them. This system is just plain wrong.

Yes it is.

But it's no more wrong than the comprehensive system.

So what would you suggest we replace the comprehensive system with?

That's the problem. Almost every other system will be quite an expensive set-up, require rigorous, non-political implementation and the grasping middle-classes to stop acting like arses.

So, despite the comprehensive system being almost total balls, it looks like we're stuck with it.

The problem with much of education is that it is underfunded. If we actually paid more into the education system we could actually get a better education for all.

Being a fairly recent product of the education system, the problems I remember are thus:

• Materials, especially books, were outdated and rubbish
• Many children were patronised, assumed knowledge was always much lower than childrens' actual knowledge. There was no effort made to check prior knowledge before teaching.
• Class sizes were much too large, the norm. being 30+ pupils to 1 teacher
• Bullying was not controlled, discipline was not enforced
• Miscreants were effectively given free reign, rather than separated and/or excluded
• Many teachers had a bad attitude
• If someone struggled with a subject there was no extra help available unless they had a problem such as dyslexia.

some of the books at my school were dated in the late 1940's yet my old school wasnt built in the late 40's pretty awesome seeing peoples signatures from years ago, wish I nicked those books now..