On Wednesday 22nd April, Year 9 and a handful of staff visited the local and important site of Bletchley Park. The day involved walking around the site, getting to grips with the important historical events that happened there as well as their links to Computer Science today and the Mathematics that was used to help.
The pupils were led on a guided tour by the staff from Bletchley Park as well as guided by our own staff round the site to get an understanding of the important work that happened there, its impact on WWII and an understanding of what the people who worked there were like, such as Alan Turing. In addition to this, pupils took part in a workshop where they got to understand some basic ciphers as well as more of how the Enigma machine actually encoded a message. They used these skills in the workshop to try to break some codes. At the end of the workshop, some of us were even able to type a letter into an enigma machine, an opportunity very few will get.
“My favourite part of the trip was seeing the exhibition with all the facts about famous people from history who helped revolutionise Britain in a mathematical and computer science way. There were lots of interactive activities within the exhibition which were very engaging and fun to do with my peers. There were also many artefacts, like the Enigma machine, with lots of information about them, which was quite interesting to find out about.” – Geraldine M
“My takeaway from the trip would be that during the war, so many people, around 9000, had to work long shifts and trial and error with trying to uncover enemy secrets without getting any reward, as it had to be kept secret. It makes me appreciate how Bletchley Park provided a space for them to do this and how today it keeps their legacy going for us to find out about and admire.” – Geraldine M
“I loved the trip to Bletchley Park; I thought it was very fun and interesting. I learnt lots of new things about the enigma machines and Alan Turing. My favourite part was the workshop where we had to try to decrypt lots of ciphers to figure out who the spy was. Overall I really enjoyed the trip, and it was a great experience.” – Isla H
