In primary
school, children are split into small maths groups or ‘sets’ according to their
ability. This is usually done within the same classroom and taught by one teacher, but
each set has to complete different maths tasks based on their academic ability.
Being put in the
wrong maths set can be demotivating for children, especially if they’re put in
a set lower than they were expecting. However, the majority of primary schools
try to disguise set levels by using group names such as red, yellow and green,
instead of top, middle or bottom groups. This avoids unhelpful comparisons
between children and parents.
