SUBJECT SPECIALISATION: English, Writing, Math, Thinking Skills & Trial Test.
Mid-Year Semester · OC Fundamentals · Term 2 & 3 · 2026
4 terms until the OC test.
Make every one count.
Year 3 OC Fundamentals is 30 sessions per term across Reading, Mathematical Reasoning, Thinking Skills, and Writing. Three live online classes every week. This is where serious preparation begins.
4
Terms to Test
14
Months Away
30
Sessions / Term
3
Classes / Week
Why Start in Year 3
The students who get into top selective schools started OC prep early.
James Ruse, North Sydney Boys, Sydney Girls, Baulkham Hills. The students who earn places at these schools overwhelmingly came from OC classes. An OC placement gives your child two years of accelerated learning and puts them on the strongest pathway to selective school success.
The OC test is May of Year 4. Applications open in November of Year 3. Your child is entering Term 2 now. Each remaining term is 25% of their total preparation time. Most families start in Year 4 Term 1, weeks before the test. By then there’s only time to cram, not build genuine skills.
What Parents Tell Us
Sound familiar?
“They get stuck between two answers on every comprehension question”
Your child reads the passage and understands the story. But two multiple-choice answers both look right. They pick one. It’s wrong. Every time. The OC test is designed with one literally correct and one inferentially correct answer. We teach your child to tell the difference.
“Their writing has great ideas but no structure”
Verbally, they tell vivid stories. On paper, it’s a wall of text with no paragraphs, no pacing, and the climax in line 2. We drill narrative structure (exposition, rising action, climax, resolution) until it’s automatic. By Term 3, your child plans a story in 3 minutes.
“Thinking Skills questions look like nothing they’ve seen at school”
Pattern matrices, paper folding, shape rotations. These are never taught in the primary school curriculum. Most students encounter them weeks before the OC test. We introduce them in Year 3, giving your child 12+ months to master the patterns.
“Fast at calculations but freezes on word problems”
The OC maths test is 35 word problems in 40 minutes. Not a single bare calculation. Every question is wrapped in language. If your child can’t translate a sentence into an equation, they can’t access the maths they already know. We teach that translation skill explicitly.
“Above average” at school means nothing in the OC test. 12,000+ students compete for 1,840 places. The test compares your child to every Year 4 student in NSW, not just their class.
What Your Child Learns
Three sessions per week. Every OC component covered.
Session 1 · English & Writing · 60 minutes / week
Reading Comprehension & Writing
Non-fiction and fiction comprehension at Year 5-6 level. Main idea identification, fact vs opinion, inference, figurative language, and author’s purpose. Students learn to answer OC-style multiple-choice questions with evidence-based reasoning, not guessing.
Narrative writing with explicit structure: exposition, rising action, climax, resolution. Persuasive writing with PEEL structure. Vocabulary building through context, not word lists. Spelling patterns, grammar in context, and creative voice development.
Session 2 · Maths & Thinking Skills · 60 minutes / week
Mathematical Reasoning & Critical Thinking
Word problem translation, fractions, decimals, percentages, measurement, data interpretation, and algebraic thinking. Every question practised in OC format: language-wrapped, multi-step, with irrelevant information to filter.
Thinking Skills: Critical reasoning, logical deduction, spatial reasoning (rotations, reflections, paper folding), pattern recognition, and numerical reasoning. All four OC Thinking Skills pillars covered with age-appropriate techniques.
Session 3 · Trial Test Review · 60 minutes / week
Exam Practice & Error Analysis
Weekly OC-format practice under timed conditions. Detailed error analysis: which question types cost marks? Which techniques were forgotten? Building exam stamina from 20 minutes to 70 minutes by Year 4. Exposure to all OC-specific formats including varied short texts and sentence-placement cloze.
Sample Lessons
See what an OC Fundamentals class looks like
Watch real lesson extracts so you know exactly what your child will experience — live instruction, real-time interaction, and genuine skill-building in action.
Included with Every Enrolment
Apps, support, and everything your child needs
📚
Readly
Adaptive reading comprehension with levelled passages
✍️
Writely
Structured writing tasks with model responses
💡
Vocably
Contextual vocabulary with spaced repetition
🔢
Mathly
Targeted maths practice with worked solutions
📝
Weekly Homework
5 tasks per week with vocab lists and detailed feedback
💬
Success Coach
7-day support via Telegram and WhatsApp
📊
Progress Reports
Regular reports so you see measurable improvement
Mid-Year Semester Pricing
Commit to the countdown.
60 sessions across 2 terms. Three classes per week. Five homework tasks per week. The most comprehensive Year 3 OC programme available.
Recommended
$1,941
Mid-Year Semester · Terms 2 + 3
Save $293 vs term-by-term
- 60 live online sessions (30/term)
- 3 classes/week: English, Maths/TSA, Trial Test Review
- 5 weekly homework tasks + vocab lists
- Readly, Writely, Vocably & Mathly apps
Best Value
$3,207
Rest of Year · Terms 2 + 3 + 4
Save $344 vs term-by-term
- Everything in Mid-Year Semester
- + 30 additional sessions (Term 4)
- FREE Writing Wizards term included
- Priority enrolment for Year 4 OC Final Sprint
- 90 total sessions across 3 terms
Payment plans available. Two equal instalments at the same total price.
Common Questions
Is Year 3 Term 2 too late to start?
No — Term 2 is exactly when most of our OC-successful families started. You have 4 terms of structured preparation, which is enough if it’s done with the right programme. What matters isn’t when you start, it’s the quality and intensity of what you do from here.
We’re not sure about OC — we’re more focused on selective long-term.
That’s exactly why Year 3 matters. The skills in this programme — comprehension, reasoning, critical thinking, writing — are the same skills tested in the Selective test. Students who go through OC prep arrive at Year 5 Selective with a 2-year head start. The strongest selective candidates almost always started in Year 3.
My child already does worksheets and practice papers at home.
Worksheets build content familiarity but don’t teach exam strategy, critical reasoning, or writing technique. The OC test is designed to test thinking — not memorisation. We teach the patterns behind the questions, the Show Don’t Tell writing techniques, and the exam triage methods that worksheets simply can’t cover.
What about scholarships?
Private school scholarships are actually more competitive and more valuable than selective placement — a full scholarship is worth $180K–$250K over 6 years. The scholarship exams test the same core skills as OC and Selective, plus writing and often an interview. Year 3 is the time to build these skills. Your Success Coach will discuss the full scholarship pathway with you.
How are classes delivered?
All sessions are live online classes, 60 minutes each, three times per week. Sessions are recorded for catch-up. Weekly homework across English, Maths, Thinking Skills, Writing, and Vocabulary is tracked through the Scholarly LMS.
The countdown has started.
4 terms of structured preparation. 30 sessions per term. Three classes per week. Reading, Maths, Thinking Skills, Writing, and Trial Tests — all covered. One decision away.