Tutors in demand as Opportunity Classes take off

Sydney parents are spending thousands of dollars on tutoring in a bid to have their children admitted into public school Opportunity Classes designed for gifted children.

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Sydney parents are spending thousands of dollars on tutoring in a bid to have their children admitted into public school Opportunity Classes.

The elite classes — located in 75 state schools around NSW — are designed for particularly gifted children to stretch them in Year 5 and Year 6 and are often viewed by parents as a springboard into selective high schools.

New data reveals Beecroft Public in Sydney’s northwest was the most competitive school this year, requiring a score of 251 on the tricky entrance exam, followed by North Rocks and Ermington public schools.

Beecroft Primary School, which has scored the highest in NSW in Opportunity entrance exams.

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Comparatively, Port Macquarie Public School and Bathurst West Public School in regional NSW were the least competitive of all the schools, requiring a score of just 160 points.

This year, only a fraction of the students who applied for entry were accepted, with 1740 children admitted from a cohort of 12,344 who applied, according to the Department of Education data.

Competition is so fierce it is now impossible for students without tutoring to pass the test, according to Global Education Academy owner Dr Majeda Awawdeh, whose tutoring business charges $8500 for a year’s worth of opportunity class coaching.

Donna Massey and her daughter Tiana, 8, who is in year 3 and trying to get into opportunity classes. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“Without tutoring at all, I don’t think (it is possible). The test is becoming more and more competitive and because most students go to tutoring, the ones who are not they will be disadvantaged,” she told The Daily Telegraph.

Children in Year 3 are tutored four hours a week for a year before they sit the test in Year 4.

CN Coaching owner Christian Nehme said despite being competitive, students with average Year 3 NAPLAN results could be coached so they passed the test with between six and 12 months of tutoring.

Year 3 student Tiana and others have a lot of pressure on them to make opportunity classes. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“It is really about the preparation, which is why a lot of the parents go to tutoring because the school system itself doesn’t really prepare you for the test,” he said.

“There are tricks to answer each question.

“With the right tutor and mentor, they can show you the quick way of solving that as opposed to the standard way, that the school system typically won’t show you.”

Those successful in the opportunity exams wabt to get into good high schools. Picture: Jonathan Ng

However some experts warn that coaching children to get into opportunity classes could ultimately damage their self esteem because the level of learning is often beyond what they are able to cope with.

Mum Donna Massey said her daughter Tiana did two hours a week of extra tuition because she wanted to familiarise her with the exam conditions.

“The teacher has often commented that she is a little bit ahead,” she said.