
OC TUTORING (Year 3 to Year 4)
Cabramatta Pre-Uni begins OC tutoring in Term 4 of Year 3.
Opportunity Classes (OC) are not in every public school, but are established in one school in each area. Please refer to this link for a listing of Schools with Year 5 Opportunity Classes - http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/learning/k-6assessments/oc_schools.php
Children gain opportunity class placement on the basis of academic merit. The main criteria for determining academic merit are Opportunity Class Placement Test results combined with school assessments. Comments made by parents and principals may be considered at the discretion of the selection committee.
Some general characteristics of gifted and talented children are listed below. It is important to note that academically gifted and talented children will not necessarily demonstrate all of these characteristics.
A gifted student:
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learns rapidly and quickly grasps new concepts
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has an excellent memory
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is creative or imaginative, e.g. produces many ideas or is highly original
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is independent - may prefer to work alone
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has a keen sense of humour
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may be highly motivated, particularly in self-selected tasks
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has unusual or advanced interests
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demonstrates exceptional critical thinking skills or problem-solving ability
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may have superior leadership and interpersonal skills
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frequently asks in-depth, probing questions
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may demonstrate a high degree of social responsibility or moral reasoning
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possesses a large, advanced vocabulary
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has superior insight and the ability to draw inferences or is intuitive
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is an advanced reader either in English or in the home language.
OC Placement Test - Past Papers
In the actual Opportunity Class Placement Test there are 20 questions in reading, 20 in mathematics and, until 2005, 20 in general ability. From 2006 there are 30 general ability questions.
The Opportunity Class Placement Test measures ability and is set to discriminate at a very high level. Students who are accustomed to answering most questions in tests correctly should not be discouraged if they get a number of questions wrong. It is very rare for even the highest scoring candidates to score full marks on all components of the Opportunity Class Placement Test.
Opportunity class entry does not depend entirely on a student's performance in the Opportunity Class Placement Test as school assessment scores in English and mathematics are provided by the primary schools.