On Wed 8 November, all of Year 7, 8 and 9 attended a STEAM enrichment trip to Bletchley Park. This visit was perfectly timed between the AI Summit at Bletchley Park hosted by Rishi Sunak and remembrance Sunday meaning that pupils were given an opportunity to explore cyber-security and consider the historical importance of Bletchley Park in the Allied victory of World War II. 

The pupils were treated to an extremely busy day, exploring the various buildings and huts of the museum, learning about Alan Turing and the work of the code-breakers and gaining an insight into the importance of their work in key events in the Second World War. They had a guided tour from a very knowledgeable and engaging speaker who walked them around the site, and talked to them about the importance of the site historically. They also had the opportunity to attend a workshop on cyber-security which made them rethink the ways that they keep their data secure and the passwords that they use for access to their apps and emails. Finally, pupils had an opportunity to walk around the site, guided by teachers, play with interactive enigma machines, learn about Alan Turing’s remarkable discoveries and life and view a model of the ‘Bombe’ machine that cracked the enigma code.

An informative, interesting and exciting day out and hopefully we have managed to inspire the next generation of computer scientists, mathematicians and historians!