Going to an opportunity class
Are you a parent or carer?
Please visit the Selective high schools and opportunity classes – information for parents and carers to learn about the placement process and to apply.
Student resource hub
Check out the Student resource hub where you can learn whether an opportunity class might be a good fit for you.
It also has:
- interactive quizzes
- practice test items
- and lots more to help you prepare.
What are opportunity classes?
- Opportunity classes are for intellectually gifted and high potential students in Years 5 and 6.
- High potential and gifted students learn with like-minded kids.
- Opportunity classes are in different primary schools in NSW. Have a look at the maps below.
Watch the video below to learn more.
A day in the life of an OC student
We asked students from opportunity classes to make a 'Day in the life of an OC student' video.
Thanks to the students from Dural Public School, Harrington Street Public School and Georges Hall Public School for their wonderful productions. We loved the creativity they used when showing us behind the doors of their opportunity classes.
Video – Dural Public School 'A day in the life of an OC student' (duration 2:44)
Transcript of video: “A day in the life of an OC student – Dural Public School” (duration 2.44)
[Nick]
Hi everyone. I'm Nick.
[Jaden]
And I'm Jaden.
[Nick]
Today we'll present to you the day in the life of an OC student.
[Jaden]
We wake up nice and early. Then we do our morning routine and head to school. We chat with our friends for a bit.
[Student 3]
Yeah. Also, do you know that science has proven that people who walk backwards live a longer life.
[Nick]
What? I must do that right now.
[Jaden]
But then the bell rings and we head to class.
We start the day with current affairs. It's a part of our homework and it's where we summarise recent news events and stories and then present it to the entire class on a given day. Here we have Elijah presenting.
[Nick]
Afterwards, we write our own headlines based on the story.
[Jaden]
And then we mark the roll as quickly as we can. In fact, it's a competition. I've got the best score, by the way.
Now it's the time for us to learn some new vocabulary. That's right, it's spelling. We go to our local arcade and play Pacman.
[Nick]
Just kidding. Instead, we play spelling Pacman. Here’s a little clip of how that turns out.
[Students cheering each other]
[Nick]
On Mondays, we do PE. Our first weekly exercise. We play fun games with all of the teachers and rotations.
[Jaden]
Recess time! Now we go outside and eat a small snack.
[Nick]
Afterwards we have a maths lesson. We do a mental quiz, then three problem solving questions. First we attempt them ourselves and then we're encouraged to work with our table and go over each question, helping our teammates fix mistakes and learn.
[Jaden]
Then we have the main lesson which is shown here.
[Nick]
Lunchtime!
[Jaden]
Time for an eating montage. A great time to play and hang out with your friends before going back to class.
On Wednesday afternoons, we usually do recorder. However, we decided to do it on Monday this time.
We started the new curriculum early and we are reading the book The Wild Robot for our English unit. We are studying narrative structure and we are writing our own sci-fi short story.
[Student 4]
I was climbing those cliffs when the rocks started to fall.
[Jaden]
Here are some more clips of us writing our short stories.
For geography this term we're learning about Asian culture and politics. We do this every Tuesday and once we finish geography, we end the day with another game.
Once we get home, we do some of our homework and work on some fun projects.
So, this is what life is like as an OC student in 6H. The opportunity class is a great experience, and we hope you can join our OC family here at Dural. OK. Bye for now.
[End of transcript]
Video – Georges Hall Public School 'A day in the life of an OC student' (duration 2:55)
Transcript of video: “A day in the life of an OC student – Georges Hall Public School” (duration 2.55)
[Ryana]
Dear diary, I'm walking into the school. It's so much bigger than my old one.
[Hillary]
Dear diary, it's another year to go. I wonder what will happen. Will I succeed this year?
[Ha]
Dear diary, I'm excited for a new class, but also nervous to meet new people and start a new chapter of my life.
[Isabelle]
Dear diary, what is really waiting for me this year in the OC class? I’ve heard a lot of amazing things about it.
[Amy]
Dear diary, I'm full of nerves. What if people don't like me here? I just want to go back to my old school. Everything is so unfamiliar.
[Rosabel]
Dear diary. What is OC going to be like? I barely have any friends.
[Ryana]
Let's get this day started.
[Hillary]
In the morning, we OC students get our laptops out of our bags because we are a BYOD class, which stands for Bring Your Own Devices. It's a gifted privilege that lets us work with our own devices in order to complete tasks.
[Ha]
On some days, we might have extra-curricular activities that regular classes also do. Such examples include our library, sport sessions.
[Isabelle]
At the OC class, we do much more projects than regular. We follow PBL which is project-based learning and some projects span over a whole month. Some projects we've done include creating a sustainable city and building an airport in Minecraft.
[Matthew]
Every week, we do this program called Grok. Grok is a program where we learn to code and program and it can inspire us to do many careers.
[Rosabel]
We know that the OC class might seem like a lot of work but we also have a lot of fun. Throughout the year, I've made many new friendships and we're all like one big family now.
[Matthew]
In the OC class we have a variety of subjects and occasionally we combine them. As you can see here, we combine linear equations with art.
[Ryana]
Honestly, I thought the OC class would be overwhelming at first with how much stuff there was going to be, but actually it's not bad. Actually it's great.
[Hillary]
Obviously we learn a lot more about subjects than normal, but we all help each other along the way.
[Ha]
My favourite part of the OC class has to be whenever we do cooking. So far, we've made cakes, ice creams, cheeses and brownies.
[Isabelle]
The OC class has taught me so much by showing me what I'm capable of and it gave me a sense of responsibility.
[Amy]
I like being in the OC class because as well as being with my friends. I can also socialise with my teacher and have fun.
[Rosabel]
If you’re worried about joining the OC class for the first time, remember that …
[ Ryana, Isabelle, Rosabel, Ha, Hillary and Amy]
… A whole new journey awaits you.
Video – Harrington Street Public School 'A day in the life of an OC student' (duration 2:05)
Transcript of video: “A day in the life of an OC student – Harrington Street Public School” (duration 2.05)
[Lily]
Hi, I'm Lily.
[Chloe]
I'm Chloe.
[Bella]
I'm Bella.
[Emerson]
I'm Emerson.
[Olivia]
I'm Olivia.
[Lily, Chloe, Bella, Emerson and Olivia]
We’re all students from the opportunity class at Harrington Street Public School.
[Olivia]
In English, we analyse different types of texts then express our learning through different projects. For this project, we were able to respond to texts and use critical and creative thinking to create a news report based on Tohby Riddle’s Yahoo Creek.
During creative arts, we have the opportunity to imagine and inspire. Our ideas often come from our learning and other key learning areas such as science.
Here, we've turned sparks into artworks of bushfires.
As a special project, we visit high schools to experience what it is like to further extend ourselves. Four students from our opportunity class are chosen to go to a local high school each week to learn advanced maths, where we can implement our learning in real life situations.
To discover more about biomes, we have integrated technology through the use of Minecraft Education. It's an app where you can transfer your wildest ideas into a reality as well as experiment with different designs and solutions to problems.
The opportunity class offers many exciting inquiry-based experiences that no other class offers, such as collaborating with our peers to engage in hands-on projects.
[End of transcript]
Video – What are opportunity classes and selective high schools? (duration 2.50)
Transcript of video animation: “What are opportunity classes and selective high schools?” (2 minutes 50 seconds)
[upbeat music]
[music fades]
[Female narrator]
The NSW Department of Education is committed to supporting all students to achieve their educational potential.
We recognise that all students require support to optimise their growth and achievement, including high potential and gifted students. One offering that the Department provides for these students is opportunity classes and selective high schools.
So, what are opportunity classes and selective high schools?
Opportunity classes, often called OC classes, are located in government primary schools and cater for high potential and intellectually gifted Year 5 and Year 6 students. There are:
- 87 opportunity classes across NSW, and
- Aurora College, a virtual opportunity class for students living in rural and remote areas and are enrolled in authorised host schools.
Selective high schools are government schools for high potential and gifted students. There are:
- 17 fully selective high schools - where all students attending the school are high potential or gifted
- 26 partially selective high schools - where a school has a specialist class or classes for high potential or gifted students within a regular comprehensive high school
- 4 agricultural selective high schools, some with boarding facilities for students from regional and remote areas, and
- Aurora College, a virtual selective high school for high potential and gifted students who live in rural or remote NSW and don’t have access to a selective high school in their local area.
Opportunity classes and selective high schools help students to learn by grouping them with students of similar ability and using specialised evidence-based teaching methods. These settings aim to meet the intellectual needs of the students by moving through curricula at a faster pace, and allowing students to explore concepts in more depth and with greater complexity.
Research demonstrates that grouping high potential and gifted students together has academic benefits and is also good for emotional wellbeing. The majority of students in opportunity classes or selective high schools report higher levels of satisfaction from learning with, and being friends with, like-minded students.
For further information please visit our website.
[music becomes louder and then fades out]
[End of transcript]
Where's my nearest
opportunity class?
Search the map below to find one near you.
Primary schools with opportunity classes
Aurora College
If you live in rural or remote location you might be able to join opportunity classes online at your local primary school. You learn maths, science and technology with your Aurora College classmates online but get to do all other subjects with your class.
Search the map below to find one near you.
Aurora College host primary schools
How do I know if it's right for me?
When you’re really interested in a topic, do you:
- read about it and love to study it
- learn and practise new skills
- talk about it to your friends and family
- go beyond what is expected at school.
If this sounds like you, then you might like to give it a try.
You might find a whole new set of friends just like you, in an opportunity class.
Interested?
Talk to your teacher about opportunity classes.
Ask your family if they think you should apply.
How does applying work?
Your parent or carer needs to apply online for you when you are at the end of Year 3 or the beginning of Year 4.
They can choose up to 4 schools to apply for.
You will need to sit a test.
Your test results decide if you get a place to one of your choices.
If you think an opportunity class might be right for you, ask your family to apply. Do the test. If you get a place, you don't have to take it if you change your mind.
Steps to get into an opportunity class
Steps to get into an opportunity class
1. Apply
November to February
2. Sit the test
Early May
3. Get your result
Late August
Don't forget to apply before applications close.
3 tips for choosing a school
When your parent or carer applies for you, they can select up to 4 schools that you would like to go to. That gives you four chances of getting into an opportunity class.
Here are some tips to help you decide which schools to choose.
1. Location
It's a great idea to choose a school close to home so it's easy to get to.
2. School website
Go to the school's website to learn more about it.
3. Talk to others
Ask friends and family about their experiences and recommendations.