We are delighted to announce that our Year 8 codebreakers placed 6th out of 22 in the semi-final of the CyberFirst Girls Competition 2020.   

Held at HMGCC (Her Majesty's Government Communications Centre) in Milton Keynes last Saturday, The BGS team, Crypting Coders, which comprised of Eva Ng, Kaila Hill, Licia Cacioppo and Sarah Pepper, used their problem solving and research skills against the very best teams in the region.

The BGS team were accompanied to the semi-finals by Mr Potter (Director of Digital Strategy) and Ms Davies (Computer Science Teacher). Commenting on the day, Ms Davies said: “We are extremely proud of the girls, they were up against the very best in the group, Loughborough High School, who were the eventual winners. The competition was very close, with the Crypting Coders jumping up to 4th with 20 minutes to go, as the team cracked the expert puzzles.”

Mr Potter said: “The team showed a great deal of maturity sportsmanship and teamwork throughout the competition. We hope to see more girls entering upcoming Computer Science Competitions.”

Kaila Hill thoroughly enjoyed the challenges, she said: “It was an amazing experience and I didn’t know I would enjoy it so much. Going to HMGCC was something I never thought I would get to do and I’m grateful for the opportunity. It has now opened my eyes to a possible future career in cyber security.”

Organised by the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre), part of GCHQ, the competition aims to provide a fun but challenging environment to encourage and inspire the next generation of young women to consider computer science as an option with a view to a future career in cyber security.