The National Literacy Strategy is a centrally led policy that targets the raising of literacy standards, while also promoting the aim of inclusion. This case study researches the impact this curriculum development has had on the junior school where I taught in South West England during the two years after its introduction in September 1998. The main organisational impact has been the implementation of a policy of setting (regrouping by ability). The school includes a diverse range of abilities and the emphasis on whole class teaching brought a pedagogical conflict. Teachers felt that too often there was a mismatch between the level of the subject matter and the ability of the children. Setting seemed to be the most appropriate answer, allowing accurate targeting of the lesson to everyone's benefit. Using children's questionnaires I survey the attitudes of the children in the different grouping arrangements and triangulated this with my own observations as a class teacher, firstly of a mixed ability and then a set class for the Literacy Hour.