On arrival, the guide explained the park's history and why it was relocated. The tour guide was very informative and shared many jokes as we walked around. One section of the day involved watching a D-Day documentary. The students were fascinated by how Bletchley Park used their intelligence gathered to strategise the battles in Calais and Normandy.
Afifa expressed that she was surprised and inspired that ¾ of the agents at Bletchley Park were female. She had no idea about the impact female mathematician had during the war.
There was a natural sense of competition amongst the group to complete the code. Near the end, the presenter mentioned that the puzzle had been solved; even though a single group had not completed the whole task, he wanted the answer within the next minute. Some groups carried on solving while others shared answers between groups. The key to successfully beak these codes under pressure is to work collaboratively.
After the session, the presenter praised the students' attitude and manners - he said that this was the only group this year to crack the code within the time limit and with 20 minutes to spare!
Ms Tayeba noted, "The students were amazing throughout the day, their behaviour was impeccable, and they really immersed themselves during the trip".
Student comments:
"I thoroughly enjoyed the trip as it is not something we are exposed to in our lessons every day. Learning about coding and the history of how England retrieved its intelligence was truly fascinating." "We learned how coding saved lives during World War II and how Turing built the Bombe machine to break the enigma code, which cut the war down by two years. Although we walked a lot, the artefacts were very interesting to look at, so it was worth it."
"During the workshop, we had a fun time as we were all trying to break the codes and build our skill of teamwork. We got to learn the importance of this during the wars and how vital it was."
"As a Year 10 student, being at INA for four years, I can say this was one of the BEST Trips I have been on."
"We heard voice recordings of cryptanalysts and British intelligence officers which gave us an insight of their daily lives working at the "Intelligence Factory". We viewed maps and notes used by the British when deciding their plan of attack during the war."
"The workshop made us use our mathematics skills until we had figured out the puzzles. With the interactive museum experience, we had an amazing and spectacular time."
"The whole experience of visiting and understanding the importance of Bletchley Park was amazing."