The event consisted of a talk to a group of Year 6 girls by Mr Giraud, a computer engineer who specialises in encryption systems for safeguarding electronic data, based here in Cambridge.
Mr Giraud spoke about the processes by which messages can be encrypted into code and then deciphered. A range of fascinating examples from history, including the wartime code-breaking efforts at nearby Bletchley Park, and from the modern age of computers and internet technology, helped the girls to appreciate the tremendous, although mostly unseen, importance of codes in all our lives. The girls were then set the tricky challenge of deciphering a coded message, applying some of the principles they had just learned, combined with their own thinking skills.
The girls greatly enjoyed this task and it was a delight to see the satisfaction on their faces when they finally cracked it! All in all, a very successful start to our series of “Inspire Me” events in the Junior School and we are very thankful to Mr Giraud for taking the time to come and speak to the girls.