Respectfully, I think permanently locking students into/out of specific streams based on performance at such a young age is a very bad idea. I am in favour of streaming classes within each school, with flexible movement of students so that each is in the most appropriate classes to best support their learning in the different subjects. I came up against resistance when I asked for my eldest to be accelerated in maths and when I contacted our Dept of Ed, the senior maths advisor to the DoE advised that the position of the DoE was that selective schools catered for gifted kids and therefore no accommodation(s) should be needed in mainstream schools. My eldest ended up working ahead by herself without her teachers’ support, which though far from ideal at the time, fostered her independence. Starting formal schooling a full year earlier than the average child, she consistently gained altitude throughout school and outperformed the majority of selective school students in the course of medicine she chose to study at Uni. Retirement brought changes in several senior staff positions at our school and with a new maths HoD and principal at our local school, DS was given the green light and support to work at his pace which outstripped even the pace at selective schools.