School colour-codes pupils by ability
Rowenna Davis,
Jul 26, 2011
We usually associate learning technology with computers and digital resources, but sometimes technology can be as simple, and devastating, as the colour of a tie. "The gifted and talented go to Delamere. They have purple badges on their smart blazers. The rest go to Ashwood, which wears blue, or Sherwood, which wears red." The headmaster explains, "I felt if we made explicit the provision for high-ability children, we would be able to attract those children and their parents who would rather not put them in to take the Bexley 11-plus." The story suggests that some students ask to be placed in the lower tiers, so they can "earn their stripes," but to me the focus seems to be on attracting the alphas by including built-in subgroups for them to look down upon. "One girl aged 15 who attends Sherwood school says that students in the top school "look down" on students in the other ability schools like hers. She says arguments and fighting have broken out between different schools."
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