The telegraph does a very interesting piece on maths and English.
Maths was always something I did not enjoy. I never felt I was any good at it and in addition it was never really pushed as much as English I felt both in school and at home. But once I went to high school there was a teacher who really believed in my abilities and gave me confidence. I realise that many pupils just need some encouragement and they can do very well. Also there are some including people I know that say maths is for boys and English is for girls. However I know this to be false as myself and many of my friends were better at English than maths. I think that there is no difference between the two and that with the right support and encouragement children can be equally as good at maths as they are at English.
I think that no child should be put in a box. This is with regard to every subject, PE drama music science give the children the support so they can make their own choices as to if the subject is for them.