Girls secure top 50 spot in national cyber security competition

Tech savvy pupils have placed in the top 50 out of 840 schools nationwide in a competition to find the next generation of female cyber security experts.

The school entered three teams – each consisting of four Year 8 pupils – into the competition and were delighted to secure joint 48th position. The only other London schools to feature in the top 50 were both selective schools –  North London Collegiate Independent Day School and Tiffin Girls Grammar School.

The CyberFirst Girls Competition was run by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, a part of GCHQ, which runs initiatives to nurture young talent to explore their passion for computers and technology. It is part of a campaign to bring more females into the cyber security industry, which globally is dominated by an 89% male workforce.

The pupils had to pit their cyber wits against a head-scratching set of online problem-solving and code-cracking challenges split into four categories: cryptography, cyber security, logic and coding, and networking. Each question was derived from skills used every day by cyber security professionals.

Year 8 pupil Alisha Nasir said:

“I can’t believe that my teammates and I did so well in the competition and I’m really excited that we came in the top 50, especially as we’ve never really done anything similar before. I’ve never really thought about a career in cyber security but after taking part in the CyberFirst Girls Competition and learning about the opportunities that are available out there, I am keen to find out more about cyber security.”

Principal Shahina Ahmad said: “We are extremely proud of our girls – they have done marvelously to place so highly in the school’s very first year of entering the competition. This has been a great start to use as a springboard and, hopefully, next year we will come even higher.

“Women are very underrepresented in the global cyber industry – but, here at Eden Girls’ School, Waltham Forest, we have exceptionally talented girls who can help make our country a safer place to live and do business online. Let’s get them excited about computing early.”

Chris Ensor, Deputy Director for Skills and Growth at the National Cyber Security Centre, said:

“Providing younger students from diverse backgrounds with an opportunity to experience computing and cyber security is helping to increase the awareness of how beneficial cyber skills can be and developing a talent pipeline that will meet the UK’s future needs. The CyberFirst programme is an integral part of our strategy to engage and inform students across the country of the options that are available to them.”

EDEN Girls’ School, Waltham Forest was the only non-selective state school in London to place in the top 50 of 840 schools that entered the CyberFirst Girls Competition

 

Added By: Star Academies | Date Added: 15th Feb 2019 | Posted In:

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