Trip to Bletchley Park

After an early start and a long coach journey students from year 7, 8, 9 and 10 began their exploration into code breaking at Bletchley Park. Bletchley was the principal centre of Allied code breaking during the second world war because of its location on the varsity line between Oxford and Cambridge. Students explored the mansion where the head-quarters were based and the series of huts where men and women would listen to enciphered messages sent by Nazi intelligence and would then work on deciphering these messages. Students learned about the revered Alan Turing and the work he did to design the Bombe machine which eventually cracked enigma ciphers. They then took part in workshops and learned about factorials, permutations and how to use logic to solve enciphered messages. It was a sunny day and we were able to enjoy the beautiful grounds with an ice cream before making the long trip home.