Codebreakers for a Day: Year 10s Dive into Computing History!

Recently Year 10 GCSE Computer Science students swapped the classroom for a trip to Bletchley Park, the top-secret home of WWII codebreakers.

The day started off with a "Breaking Lorenz" workshop. While many have heard of Enigma, our students learned about the even tougher Lorenz cipher, used by German High Command. They got stuck into some of the clever thinking the original codebreakers used, even applying binary and XOR logic – key parts of their GCSE course – to understand how the fiendish code was cracked.

After a quick stop for lunch, students explored the historic site, soaking up the atmosphere in the famous codebreaking huts. A real highlight was the "Age of AI" exhibition, which brilliantly connects the pioneering work of the past to the technology that's shaping our future.

The trip ended at the National Museum of Computing. It was amazing to see the world's largest collection of working historic computers. Seeing the rebuilt Colossus – the world’s first electronic computer – and a functional Bombe machine in action really brought the story to life. It was a great way to see how computing has evolved from giant, secret machines into the technology we use every day.

It was a brilliant day that connected the dots between their lessons and the real world. Seeing the birthplace of modern computing has left everyone feeling inspired!

Helen Williams, Team Leader of Computer Science