It is getting worse in the UK state schools too. In the past ten years, ridiculous SATS obsessed politicians have dumbed down a lot of critical thinking.

Three years ago, my youngest also wasn't permitted to read a certain novel because it was considered "above his age group". Absolutely insane. I promptly gave said child my own copy of the novel in question (Watership Down) and wrote a scathing tirade to the teacher who had forbidden it. Their response? Apparently nothing could be done, because "policy".

Eventually, said child left primary school at the age of eleven with a reading age of sixteen. That certainly wasn't down to the school and their idiotic, one-size-fits-all approach.