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]

Schools with 15 places have one composite opportunity class catering for Year 5 and Year 6 students. Fifteen new students are accepted in Year 5 each year, with fifteen students continuing in Year 6. There are 30 students in the class.

Sitting the placement test interstate or overseas

If your child is interstate or overseas and cannot travel to NSW to sit the test you can apply for your child to sit the placement test, at your own expense, at an available authorised interstate or overseas test centre location. These test locations are organised for the department by the British Council test network.

How do I apply?

You will be asked if you need to apply for an interstate or overseas test location during the normal application process.

How much does it cost?

Testing outside NSW incurs a fee of £295 (Great British Pounds), payable directly to the local British Council test centre.

Is there a test location near me?

The British Council network operates in specific countries and test centres are usually located in the capital city – check their country list. Test centre allocation depends on the availability, capacity and location of test centres. The test centre will confirm with the parent/carer their child’s allocation to the test centre 4 weeks prior to the test day.

When is the test date?

Students sitting the test interstate or overseas will be assigned to sit the test on Day 1 (Friday) of the test period. Testing is not available on Saturday or Sunday at interstate or overseas test centres.

What if my child is sick on test day?

If a student is unable to sit the placement test on the test day, or their performance is impacted during the test, parents and carers can submit an illness/misadventure request. If the request is approved, the student will be able to sit a make-up test approximately 2 weeks later at either the same test centre or another nearby.

Residency requirements for placement

Students who sit the placement test interstate or overseas will also be subject to the residency requirements to gain placement in a selective high school or opportunity class.

For the full conditions relating to sitting the test interstate or overseas, please see the Selective high schools and opportunity class placement procedures.

If your child is outside the usual age range or school Year when applying, you should explain the reasons for this in your application.

If your child is in Year 5 at the time of the test, they can only be considered for placement in rare cases. You must provide a full explanation of why they are repeating with supporting documentation including from your child's principal.

If you want your child to be accelerated from Year 3 to Year 5 in the following year, you must provide evidence of support from the school principal.

The selection committee will determine whether applications for students outside the usual age or Year range will be accepted.

The selection committee may:

• request further information and evidence
• decide not to accept students who are much older than the usual age range set out above
• decide not to accept students who are seeking to repeat Year 5 in an opportunity class.
  
• request an interview if the student is very young to determine any special requirements
• decide that acceleration (skipping a school year) is not appropriate after considering the student's circumstances, including the consultation between the school, family and student, and section 1.4.4. of the High Potential and Gifted Education policy.

Entry to opportunity classes is based on a student's academic merit. Therefore, the placement of one sibling does not guarantee the placement of another. Each sibling needs to meet the test performance requirements to receive an offer.

Siblings of students placed in an opportunity class are not guaranteed a non-selective place at the same school, unless they are living within the school's intake area.

Parents may apply to the school for out-of-area enrolment, but are subject to enrolment eligibility and the school's capacity to accept non-local students. Parents should consider this when choosing schools. For more information, please refer to the Selective high school and opportunity class placement procedures.