Victorian Challenge and Enrichment
High Abilities Program
The Victorian Challenge and Enrichment Series (VCES) provide extension opportunities for high-ability students in Victorian Government Schools. VCES offers a range of online and offsite activities designed to challenge students across multiple curriculum areas by extending their knowledge and encouraging them to apply previously learned skills to more abstract tasks. In consultation with teachers, selected students are invited to participate in these sessions.
Students from Years 3 and 4 took part in a session called Stationery Maths, a hands-on workshop using everyday stationery items that behaved in unusual and surprising ways. Students explored two main activities:
The first involved experimenting with paper clips and rubber bands to observe the outcomes when these items were pulled together.
The second challenged them to predict what would happen when pieces of string were cut in unexpected ways.
Throughout the session, students carried out investigatory experiments, made predictions, recorded results, and looked for emerging patterns. A key focus was identifying variables they could adjust and explore. The room was filled with excitement and curiosity as students discovered new mathematical ideas. It was rewarding to see them challenge themselves, ask thoughtful questions, and enjoy such a creative approach to learning maths.
Year 5 students participated in a session called Crazy Cubes. The goal was to solve a challenging puzzle involving four cubes. Students were introduced to basic graph theory and applied their new knowledge to find—and question—the number of possible solutions. The activity was engaging and intellectually demanding, requiring patience, perseverance, and the ability to apply freshly learned concepts to an abstract problem. It was wonderful to see students embrace a task that initially seemed difficult and persist until they made sense of it.
Andrea Smith
High Abilities Program Leader