On Tuesday 28th June the Computing Department hosted a 8 MAAT event run by the staff at Bletchley Park. From Ancient Greece to the modern day, people have been using increasingly complex codes and ciphers with the intention of communicating secretly and keeping information secure. Enigma was one such cipher and students enjoyed the rare opportunity to see a genuine Enigma machine in action, as well as encountering a range of historical codes and ciphers as they worked together to decipher messages to solve a puzzle.

During this session pupils:

  • Increased their knowledge of codes and ciphers and their uses throughout history.
  • Developed their understanding of the role that ciphers played during WW2, with specific reference to the Enigma machine and the wider operations of Bletchley Park.
  • Used and developed team working, problem solving and mathematical thinking skills, applying them to a practical codebreaking task.

Miss G Dobson