By Lucy Carroll
Anh Tran-Nam remembers sitting the entry test for the opportunity class at Woollahra Public School almost 30 years ago.
“It was like taking one of those external tests we’d do during the term, similar to the basic skills test. I did a few practice questions at home, but there was no high-stress or intense pressure,” she recalls.
She secured a place in the academically selective year 5 class and enjoyed her time at the school, motivated by her peers and focus on science and problem-solving skills. “But it was a different time then – there was no coaching or private tutoring to get into the OC,” she says.
Anh Tran-Nam and her son, Jake, who attends a public school.Credit: Max Mason-Hubers
Decades later, she didn’t hesitate enrolling her son, Jake, in his local primary school, Waverley Public, which she was drawn to for its size, proximity to home and sense of community.
“That community is something we really want to hold on to until the end of year 6,” says Tran-Nam. “He’s bright and I want him to be stretched academically, but don’t want to uproot him from his school or spend endless hours at tutoring to get him into an OC class.”
Her concerns prompted a group of parents on the P&C at Waverley Public to campaign for a specialised selective stream for year 5 and 6 students.
From term one next year, the school will run a full-time selective STEM stream for high-potential and gifted students to extend them “beyond the typical level of same-aged students”.
Students will be assessed by academic merit, including NAPLAN results, school reports and a standardised assessment, rather than a single placement test.
Tran-Nam says parents wanted more options for gifted students across the area after formal OC places at Woollahra Public were slashed last year in a bid to redistribute places.
Early last year, the education department stripped OC places from schools such as Woollahra and Artarmon Public, but added classes at Maroubra Junction Public and Brookvale Public.
“The idea is this selective class will be similar to a regular OC class but taught by a specialist STEM teacher. It’s kind of OC with a twist,” says Tran-Nam.
“Many of the kids trying to get into OC or selective schools spend hours in coaching schools trying to perform on a one-off test,” she says. “We wanted this to be different in that entry isn’t just one test on one day. There’s going to be other factors in selection like school reports.”
Many private and public primary schools run advanced learning, extension or high-potential classes in year 5 and 6, although there are criticisms about the potential harm caused by separating gifted children from their regular classroom.
Some private schools are reviewing their advanced learning programs and whether to stop separating children into different classrooms.
In 2021, the NSW Education Department mandated a high-potential education policy be rolled out in all schools, which aimed to ensure gifted students were extended even if they did not attend a selective school.
Schools could use strategies such as flexible grouping in maths or English that could change and adapt throughout the year, ability grouping, acceleration, enrichment activities and events or classroom differentiation.
A research review by the department previously found gifted children comprised the top 10 per cent of students, but up to 40 per cent of them were underachieving.
Experts say the public system’s approach to high potential programs in public has been erratic, and last year such programs were available in only half of the state’s public schools.
Waverley’s selective class will accept applications from students at other schools.
The state’s public primary schools have lost thousands of students in the past five years to private schools despite cost-of-living pressures and fee hikes.
Public education is least popular in Woollahra, Randwick and Burwood councils, where more than half of primary students attend private or Catholic schools. In Waverley, about 51 per cent of students attend public primary schools.
Jae Jung, a UNSW researcher in gifted education, said the push by parents for a selective class at Waverley reflects local demand from parents and the school community.
“It shows a proactive response to a perceived community need and the local student body which are often are parent or principal driven,” he said.
In 2021, the NSW Education Department mandated a high-potential education policy be rolled out in all schools.Credit: Max Mason-Hubers
Tran-Nam said the school was quick to identify and provide extension work for her son in English and maths. “Academics are really important to parents, but so is community. But OC places are so limited in the east and so oversubscribed,” she said.
A spokesperson for NSW Education said all public school teachers completed a day of professional learning on policy implementation this year.
“The STEM+ Enrichment program to start next year at Waverley Public School is a school-based high potential and gifted education initiative with strong support from the P&C. Local students can participate in the school’s program,” the spokesperson said.
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