Criteria for Entry

• Academic Merit
• Disability and Cultural Background
• Age and School Year
• Australian Citizenship and Residency Status

Students must compete academically with other candidates for opportunity class placement. Academic merit is determined mainly by the combination of the results of the Opportunity Class Placement Test in English language, mathematics and general ability together with the primary school assessments of student performance in English and mathematics.

Academic Record

All applicants attending schools in NSW are required to have school assessment scores completed by the school principal.

Attachments
Other supporting information (please provide only if relevant):

• information about disabilities and their effects on the academic performance of students and special test provisions that may be required
• the results of individual IQ tests if appropriate. These must be supported with a full IQ report
• suppporting information where students are outside the normal age range
• supporting information where students are in Year 3 or Year 5 in 2008.

As placement is based on academic merit, generally determined by a combination of the school assessment scores and the Opportunity Class Placement Test, you are not required to include any other attachment at the application stage.

Rather than sending attachments, please summarise your child's outstanding academic achievements on page 6 of the application form.

Do NOT send with your application:

• school-specific merit or behaviour certificates
• achievements in the performing arts or sports
• copies of the Basic Skills Tests
• certificates from statewide competitions.

Where further information is necessary the selection committees may approach the current primary school or request further information from parents.

• Other Considerations

The selection committee will give special consideration to certain students to determine whether or not their ability to demonstrate academic merit has been disadvantaged by disability or cultural background. Such students include those with a disability, Aboriginals, Torres Strait Islanders and students with a language background other than English who have been doing most school work in English for less than four years.

Students qualifying for Year 5 opportunity class placement in 2009 will usually be born after 31 December 1997 and before 31 July 1999 and are normally in Year 4 in 2008.

Where students have not reached Year 4 in 2008 and are seeking to accelerate to Year  5, parents and schools should comment on their social and emotional development in item 24 on page 7 of the application form. Acceleration for such students should be strongly supported by the school principal. The selection committee will contact you if further informatiion is required. Students in this situation must satisfy the criteria outlined in the Departmental document entitled Policy and Implementation Strategies for the Education of Gifted and Talented Students. (Revised 2004).

Further criteria for accelerated progression are outlined in Guidelines for Accelerated Progression, published by the Board of Studies. This document states on page 21:

"Has the student demonstrated a comprehensive achievement well in advance of the enrolment cohort when performance is assessed against the outcomes for the current curriculum stage?" AND " On a state-wide basis, it is probable that only one in 200 (0.5%) students would be capable of acceleration in all subjects."

Parents are reminded that selection committees may also consider whether or not students who took the Opportunity Class Placement Test in 2007 have gained undue advantage from their previous experience with the test.

Where applicants are already in Year 4, but were born after 31 July 1999, they have, under normal circumstances, already been accelerated in a previous year. Such students may be required to attend an interview to assess their needs. Your child's principal will need to confirm that official acceleration has occurred.

Applications for students already attending Year 5 at primary schools in NSW in 2008 are not normally accepted for Year 5 opportunity class entry in 2009 unless there are extenuating circumstances, e.g.the student is very young. In such circumstances, the applicant should provide a detailed explanation.

Applications for students whose age or school year is outside the limits described above may not be finalised at the same time as the applications of other candidates. These applications may be placed temporarily on 'hold' to allow the selection committees to complete further enquiries.

Candidates must be Australian citizens or holders of a visa granting permanent resident status in Australia. Information on Australian citizenship is available on the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs website at: www.citizenship.gov.au. Official evidence of Australian citizenship may be obtained by the issue of a Cetrificate of evidence of Australian citizenship.

Citizens of New Zealand are eligible for opportunity class entry. Permanent residents of New Zealand are treated in the same manner as temporary residents of Australia.
 
School principals are required to check claims of residential status and citizenship against school records.
 
Applicants who do not meet these residency requirements at the time of applying, but expect to meet them in the near future, will be allowed to take the Opportunity Class Placement Test. Such applicants will have to show evidence that they meet all residency requirements before being offered a place. Applicants who are unable to meet the residency requirements, including those who hold diplomatic visas, will be advised in November that their applications are on 'hold' pending clarification of their residency status. These applicants will then have the opportunity to appeal for special consideration through the appeals process.
 
All successful applicants will be required to show original documentation such as certificates of evidence of Australian citizenship, birth certificates or visas before enrolment can be finalised by the school. Offers of enrolment will be terminated if placement is made on the basis of false or misleading information.

Residential Address

Parents must be living in NSW by the beginning of the 2009 school year. If parents normally live in NSW but are temporarily out of the state, they should expect to return in the near future. Applications from parents who continue to live outside NSW will be considered only if there are vacancies after all suitable applicants from NSW have been placed.