I went to a school that streamed for the major subjects, I was in the top set the whole way through secondary school and thought it was basically a good idea, not that I've really experienced an alternative system mind. In the later years where we had some 'options' there were a few subjects where the top two and bottom two sets were mixed together and that felt like a nice way to refresh the class but still keep some structure.
You know what I really would've liked to see streamed from an early age:
games. I was a runty kid and co-ordination didn't come to me until I was in my late, late teens. I loved having a kickabout with mates at the park as we were on a similar level and it was friendly, yet back at school it was most disheartening to struggle alongside the big sporty and competitive kids (some of whom went on to sign as YTS for pro clubs, and one still plays in the premiership), and it was probably a bit annoying for them to get lumbered on the same team as people like me, just as I would have been irritated by knuckleheads ruining science class.
It really knocked the enjoyment of sport out of me as a kid and it wasn't until I was much older that I learnt to enjoy playing organised sport for fun or even competition, and that seems like a big shame.
Pod wrote:
I was in some 'unstreamed' classes like Music or Design Technology. That was a terrible use of my time. I had to share a class with the the complete retards that are usually in Set 5 for things and they didn't do anything but sit there, occasionally shout out random bollocks, make bizarre macaw sounds or perform the classic schoolboy act of throwing rubbers around the room. All it did was break the teacher's concentration and cause him to pause the class every 5 minutes and basically ruin my education.
Hehe, we had some classes like that (see also: acting up for a supply teacher), I used to think of them as a bit of a breather, a way to blow off some steam by basically pissing about.