Welcome to the Opportunity Class at Waitara Public School
At Waitara Public School we facilitate two Opportunity Classes (OC), one Year 5 class and one Year 6 class. Our OC class is an integrated part of our school community. Our aim is to provide our students with a diverse and rich range of learning experiences aimed to assist them reach their full potential. A detailed information session for new students and parents will be conducted towards the end of Term 4.
THE WAITARA OC CLASS PROGRAM
Students in a Waitara OC class are afforded the opportunity to develop and apply their knowledge and understanding in a range of individual and group activities and projects. They are assisted to guide their own learning. Lessons often include:
- problem solving activities
- creative thinking challenges
- using advanced research skills
- working together in a variety of group structures
- investigating real world problems and issues
TECHNOLOGY AT WAITARA - BYODD
Students in Year 4, Year 5 and 6 participate in the Bring Your Own Designated Device (BYODD) program. The designated device is an Apple iPad. At Waitara Public School we strive to give our students the best possible opportunities for learning. This initiative is a continuation and expansion of the quality teaching practices we provide to students. The BYODD model is common in schools and helps the children to become responsible for looking after their own technology. It also assists children in continuing their learning at home when working on a digital piece. As an alternative to the BYODD program the school can provide students with the option to lease a school device.
All parents and students are required to acknowledge and agree to the Parent/Caregiver Policy Agreement and Digital Technologies Student Code of Conduct) before any device is distributed or used. Class teachers will explicitly go through the Digital Technologies Code of Conduct with their students. All students will then be required to sign a class agreement reflecting their commitment to responsible conduct.
SCHOOL BAND
Teaching Services Australia is a private company that administers the band program at Waitara Public School. Whether your child already learns an instrument, or they are interested in learning for the first time we would love them to join our band.
In order to smooth the path for your child’s enrolment, please contact our office on 9651 7333 or info@teachingservices.com.au for more school specific information.
INTEREST GROUPS
Interest Groups is a program that Waitara OC does in Term 3. It involves choosing a group, like the ones in the list below, and participating in a collaborative project to submit to competition(s). This engages the students’ skills in collaboration and critical thinking, and gives them experience for future activities. (see below)
The First Lego League
The First Lego League (FLL) is a competition where students build robots out of Lego and compete in a venue in early Term 4. During the First Lego League, students are given a generic topic (such as ‘Unearthed’, the 2025 topic) and participate in two challenges; the Robot Game and the Innovation Project.
Tournament of Minds
The Tournament of Minds (TOM) is a challenging and creative problem-solving program designed to foster collaboration and critical thinking skills in students. It's a competition where teams of up to seven students are given a complex challenge within a specific category. They have six weeks to devise a creative and effective solution to the problem. The program encourages participants to think outside the box, work together as a team, and present their solution in an engaging and inventive way.
STEM Video Game Challenge
The STEM Video Game Challenge is one of the provided interest groups at our school. It provides an enriching experience that allow students to make a game based on an open theme. In the passing year (2025), the theme was 'Journey' and students were able to create a game using an interpretation of the theme Journey. Additionally, the 2025/26 theme was ‘Oceans’, and this theme gave students an opportunity to create an Oceans-themed game, as per the name.
Visual Arts Competitions
In the Visual Arts sector of Interest Groups, our students draw many different artworks which are used for competitions, like Wild At Art, or just drawn for fun.
“We draw because of the fun we have and together-ness with friends,” a student says.
Visual Arts is not a direct competition, as such, but multiple different artworks which span the term. Mostly, the artworks are worked over the weeks and any finished ones are submitted to competitions.
National History Challenge
The National History Challenge is a challenge where students must submit a form of multimedia, explaining an aspect of Australian history and relating to the topic. The NHC is heavily research-centered, as all information has to be gathered by the students. For example, the 2025 topic was ‘Conflict and Resolution’, which could be interpreted in a variety of contexts.
Enriched Academics
Due to being an Opportunity Class, Waitara’s OC has accelerated academics with harder programs than the regular classes. On top of enriched Maths and English, the two OC classes also participate in lots of competitions, many of which are focused on collaboration, a key aspect of life at Waitara.
Music Composition project
In the first half of 2025, the OC classes ran a music composition project, in which students took a page from the book ‘I See A Song’ (by Eric Carle) and worked in groups to compose a 30-second music clip for each page. Students were also given a motif that stayed continuous within the class, this made the songs more connected with each other, the motif used was “footsteps” which meant the music had to follow the motif of foot steps. The songs were supposed to be interconnected and gave students a musical challenge that stretched all of their brains. Projects like this engage students’ creative brains and give fun opportunities.
Music Production 2025
In the second half of 2025, the two OC classes put on a marionette theatre play based off Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. In this poduction, the students made marionettes and scenes, learnt songs to sing, played instruments in a band and even played recorders. During this time students split up into groups for each scene in the play and took ownership for the props, puppets, and more, this meant that students felt responsible for their scene, when students weren’t making puppets, some students, mainly ones who don’t play a instrument needed in the play would get taught by Ms Bell to play the recorder. Others worked on other musical pieces in the play. Due to the two-term time restraint, this was an immense challenge for the students and was an overall good learning experience for them.
Special Competitions and Projects
