Opportunity Class
Brookvale Public School offers an Opportunity Class for high potential and gifted students in Stage 3.
Opportunity Class placement is managed by the NSW Department of Education’s Selective Education Team. Applications open when students are at the end of Year 3, with selection taking place during Year 4 for placement in Year 5 the following year.
- Vision Statement
- What is an Opportunity Class?
- Testimonials from our current OC students
- What to expect as a student in the Opportunity Class
- How do we differentiate in our Opportunity Class?
- Is an opportunity class the right fit for my child?
- How is Opportunity Class placement determined?
- More information
- FAQs
Vision Statement
Our vision is for students in the Opportunity Class to thrive in a highly selective learning environment designed for high potential and gifted learners who are ready for advanced academic challenge.
We aim to nurture students who think deeply, ask sophisticated questions, engage with complex ideas and pursue learning with curiosity, creativity and intellectual confidence.
Through a culture of high expectations, belonging and purposeful challenge, students are supported to achieve strong academic growth while developing the confidence, character and resilience to make the most of their potential.
Our goal is for every student to leave the Opportunity Class with a strong love of learning, a belief in their own capabilities and the skills, mindset and motivation to continue excelling in future learning.
What is an Opportunity Class?
Opportunity Classes are specialised classes in NSW public primary schools for high potential and gifted students in Years 5 and 6. Placement is managed by the NSW Department of Education’s Selective Education Team through a statewide application and assessment process.
At Brookvale Public School, the Opportunity Class provides a highly challenging and engaging Stage 3 learning environment for students with advanced academic potential. Students learn alongside peers who are also ready for greater depth, complexity and pace in their learning.
The class supports students to think deeply, ask sophisticated questions, reason critically and apply their learning in creative and meaningful ways. Learning is designed to extend students beyond standard mastery by increasing the complexity, depth and challenge of the curriculum.
While students access the Opportunity Class through academic selection, the learning experience at Brookvale Public School supports growth across the intellectual, creative, social-emotional and physical domains. Students remain active members of the wider school community and participate in Stage 3 programs, whole-school events, sport, creative and performing arts, leadership opportunities and special interest activities.
The Opportunity Class sits alongside Brookvale Public School’s broader approach to adjustment, challenge and enrichment, providing a specialised learning environment for students who require advanced academic challenge.
Testimonials from our current OC students
The OC Class offers many opportunities in developing our brains. We are consistently challenged to think deeply about our learning and challenge our understandings. The class encourages each other, incorporating work with fun and enjoyable tasks. The opportunities we experience are endless, completing many extra curricular tasks such as Night of the Notables, Australian Stock Exchange Maths Competition, Game Changers Challenge and the Math Olympiad.
Alwin Year 6 OC
The Opportunity Class is a wonderful, exciting place where all students brains grow to become curious minds. I have also experienced endless opportunities, helping not only myself, but my peers to extend and challenge ourselves. The thing I love about the Opportunity Class the most, is that everyone respects each other and we are basically one big, happy family. Our teacher helps all of us, not only to become smarter but also to become kind people.
Sage Year 6 OC
OC in Brookvale is like a dream. There are lots of fun times and amazing things to learn. Our minds grow bigger every day, filling up with curiosity and information about the world. The community are like angels and have enough kindness to cure the world. Peers in the class are always welcoming and full of joy.
Sasha Year 5 OC
The reason I love the OC class is we have so many opportunities in front of us. We are encouraged to learn through working together, whilst doing challenging work in math or coding. We got to experience school camp with all of Stage 3. We have so much fun and learn as a team.
Maxwell Year 5 OC
What to expect as a student in the Opportunity Class
Students in the Opportunity Class can expect to be challenged, supported and engaged in a learning environment designed for high potential and gifted learners.
Across the school week, students participate in explicit teaching, rich curriculum content and carefully planned learning experiences that provide increased pace, depth and complexity. Lessons are designed to promote deep thinking, critical reasoning, creativity, collaboration and strong academic growth.
Students learn alongside peers who are also ready for advanced academic challenge. This creates a learning environment where students can ask sophisticated questions, engage in rich discussion, challenge their thinking and develop confidence as learners.
Students can expect to:
- engage in challenging learning across all curriculum areas
- work with complex ideas, problems and texts
- deepen their thinking through discussion, reasoning and reflection
- apply learning in creative, analytical and meaningful ways
- collaborate with like-minded peers who are ready for advanced academic challenge
- develop confidence in explaining their thinking and sharing ideas
- participate in enrichment and extension opportunities across the school year
- access opportunities such as APSMO, Game Changer Challenge, Night of the Notables, public speaking, debating, coding and other selected programs
- participate fully in Stage 3 activities, including sport, camp, excursions, carnivals, assemblies, leadership opportunities and whole-school events
The Opportunity Class provides students with a highly challenging and supportive Stage 3 learning experience, while ensuring they remain connected to the broader life of Brookvale Public School.
How do we differentiate in our Opportunity Class?
Learning in the Opportunity Class is differentiated to provide advanced academic challenge while supporting students to deepen their understanding across the curriculum.
Teachers adjust the pace, depth, complexity and level of challenge in learning tasks so students can move beyond standard mastery and engage with more sophisticated ideas. Rather than simply providing more work, learning experiences are designed to encourage higher-order thinking, creativity, problem solving, reasoning and rich discussion.
Students are supported to explore concepts in greater depth, make connections across areas of learning, justify their thinking and apply knowledge in new and meaningful ways. Differentiation also allows students to engage with learning through different levels of abstraction, complexity, choice and challenge.
Teachers may draw on models such as Blooms Taxonomy, The William's Model, The Maker's Model and the Differentiation Adjustment Tool to plan learning that is appropriately challenging and responsive to student need.
Through this approach, students are supported to grow as confident, capable and reflective learners who are ready for advanced academic challenge.
Is an Opportunity Class the right fit for my child?
An Opportunity Class may be a good fit for students who demonstrate high academic potential and are ready for advanced challenge in their learning.
Families are encouraged to talk with their child about the Opportunity Class and consider whether they would enjoy learning in a highly challenging environment with peers who also demonstrate strong academic potential.
Your child may have high intellectual potential if they:
- enjoy learning and show strong curiosity
- ask complex or thoughtful questions
- learn new ideas or skills quickly
- require fewer repetitions when learning something new
- enjoy working with complex ideas or problems
- show creativity or original thinking
- have a strong memory
- become deeply focused in areas of interest or passion
- enjoy challenge and opportunities to extend their thinking
Not all high potential and gifted students will show all of these traits. Some students may demonstrate their potential in different ways, including through creativity, problem solving, discussion, leadership, performance or deep interest in particular areas.
Families can learn more about high potential and gifted learners through the NSW Department of Education’s High Potential and Gifted Education Policy.
How is Opportunity Class placement determined?
Opportunity Class placement is managed by the NSW Department of Education’s Selective Education Team through a statewide application and assessment process.
Brookvale Public School does not determine which students are offered placement in the Opportunity Class. Once students are placed at Brookvale Public School, the school is responsible for providing a challenging, supportive and engaging learning environment for those students.
Applications for Opportunity Class placement open when students are at the end of Year 3. Students are assessed during Year 4 for placement in Year 5 the following year.
Families interested in applying should refer to the NSW Department of Education’s Selective Education information for current application dates, assessment details and placement procedures.
More information
Families can learn more about Opportunity Classes, including application dates, assessment information and placement procedures, through the NSW Department of Education’s Selective High Schools and Opportunity Classes website.
Families can also learn more about how NSW public schools support high potential and gifted learners through the Department’s High Potential and Gifted Education Policy.
For questions about the Opportunity Class learning experience at Brookvale Public School, families are welcome to contact the school.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Opportunity Class is a NSW Department of Education selective placement for high potential and gifted students in Years 5 and 6. Placement is managed externally through the Department’s statewide application and assessment process.
Academic Extension Classes are school-based classes at Brookvale Public School for students who require significant academic challenge, greater depth and increased complexity in their learning.
Both provide challenging learning environments, but the placement processes are different.