First and primary school youngsters in Keighley and South Craven could soon be separated by academic ability.

Last week, Ofsted inspectors recommended to the Government that talented children should be put in different 'sets' from less able students for key subjects such as English and maths. Supporting the recommendation, which targets children as young as five, is Education Secretary David Blunkett. He wants to introduce streaming as part of the Government's drive to improve standards through traditional methods of teaching, particularly in English and maths through the introduction of Literacy and Numeracy Hours.

But Eastburn Junior and Infant School head-teacher Elizabeth Pratt is against the idea of streaming. She says: "I think it's fine to put children into groups for different subjects. But as to actually streaming them I would be against that because I think it could harm children's self-esteem."

However, Haworth First School head Mo Newman says: "This is something we have discussed in the past and it's still on the agenda for discussion. We certainly think that some form of setting is going to be essential because of the way the curriculum is moving. We certainly do that within our classes, in the form of grouping children according to their ability.

"There are significant academic benefits if it is done well, but a lot depends on the maturity of the students as to what age it should be started. I prefer setting to streaming."

Mr Blunkett believes that, by separating pupils according to ability, brighter students would not be held back while slower children would be able to get the extra attention they need. Opponents say teachers need longer to judge pupils' abilities and segregating could result in a loss of self-esteem for those youngsters put in lower sets.

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