Whilst Bletchley Park, the Enigma machine and Alan Turing are what first spring to most mind at the mention of code-breaking, the need for cryptography has of course been an essential skill for any country or organisation hoping to maintain its position globally. Unfortunately, there is not enough time to explore this long standing and important discipline in detail as part of the curriculum. Therefore, it is an amazing opportunity that we have allocated enrichment time to do so.

Drawing upon actual examples from the Romans, the Renaissance, the Tudors, the Freemasons, and the 20th century, ‘315421851119147’ gives students the opportunity to learn about the development of this exciting discipline. During the course, they will not only learn about the history of cryptography, but also use and analyse different algorithms to cipher messages. They also get the chance to act as a spy and decipher messages without knowing the exact algorithm. This requires them to be creative and perseverant; working on these tasks will also help them to develop these attributes further.

The task cryptographers have is a difficult, but satisfying one. This is no different for our budding cryptographers; they experience difficult challenges and a great sense of achievement when they solve them.

Why don’t you have a go yourself and decipher the title: 3154521851119147?

For the correct answer, please contact Mrs J Szili. Well done to Mr Mackie for being the first one to submit the answer!