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    Cyberfirst Girls Competition

     

    Written by: By Amelia C and Anushka M, Year 8

    On the 18th November the 2024 National CyberFirst Girls competition took place. It is an annual competition and is organised by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a part of GCHQ. The aim is to raise more awareness of career opportunities in cyber security amongst girls. This is in the hope that they can increase the number of females in the cyber security workforce as the current number of roles held by women is only 17% globally.

    This term, Mrs Parker gave us the opportunity to take part in this exciting competition, which was open to all Year 8 girls. A group of girls were excited to take on the challenge and work together. It was a fantastic opportunity for us and showed us how interesting a job in cyber security would be. The competition consisted of 5 different sections: logic and coding, networking, cyber security, cryptography and the speciality. Each section was split into 3 different levels: beginner, intermediate and expert, with the expert challenges scoring the higher points. 

    We spent a lot of time working on skills that would help us during the competition by looking at short videos and other resources on the internet. We had the opportunity to try using different apps and programmes we had not previously used like Cyberchef and MD5. During the 10 day competition we worked really hard in small groups to complete as many of the challenges as possible with the aim to score the highest possible points. As a result, St Clement Danes came in 6th place in the East of England which is a great achievement. We were really grateful for this opportunity and pleased with the result.

    We all feel we have learnt a lot from the experience, not just from the challenges, but the collaboration of working as a team. Despite not winning, the competition has opened our minds to a future career in this industry. We would like to thank Mrs Parker for giving us the opportunity, it has shown that Computing has a lot more to it. It was a privilege to represent St Clement Danes School. 

     

     

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    30th January

    Teachers commended for transforming Design & Technology education

    We were delighted to read that our Design and Technology teachers, Miss Yalley and Mr Hadley were featured in the Design and Technology publication.  The article discusses the transformation of the Design & Technology (D&T) department at St. Clement Danes School over the past five years. It discusses how Mr Hadley and Miss Yalley took ownership of the subject, implementing a new subject ethos based on trust, excellence, respect, and safety to foster student responsibility and independence. Key Initiatives & Changes Revamping Projects & Curriculum Introduced more challenging design projects at earlier years (Years 8 & 9). Shifted focus to design skills, problem-solving, and justifying choices over just practical outcomes. Prioritized quality over quantity in student projects. Notable projects: Year 7: Robot concepts Year 8: Articulated lamps Year 9: Branded dispensers & modular speakers Encouraging Inclusion & Diversity Created a girls-only club to boost female participation in GCSE Product Design. Sixth-form girls mentor younger students, building confidence and community. Design Ventura Competition Integrated mock coursework with the Design Ventura competition. Encouraged teamwork and prototyping to improve engagement. Use of AI & Technology Introduced cloud-based tools to make learning more accessible. Leveraged AI for idea development and communication. Professional Development & Industry Links Participating in the Teachers in Residence program to gain industry insights. Adopted industry models like the Double Diamond Design Process and Scrum-based project sprints to enhance student learning. Established workshops with industry professionals to inspire students, especially girls, to pursue design careers. Key Takeaways for Educators Adapt curriculum to student needs and school culture. Pilot new initiatives as clubs first to gauge student interest. Encourage student feedback to refine teaching methods. Be open to change and continuously evolve teaching strategies. The article ultimately encourages educators to embrace creativity, experimentation, and student collaboration in D&T education. We are very proud of our teachers for their continued hard work and dedication for each of their subject areas. Congratulations to Mr Hadley and Miss Yalley for their inspiring article and the incredible work they’ve done to transform Design & Technology at St. Clement Danes! Their dedication to fostering creativity, inclusion, and industry connections is truly commendable, and their impact on students will undoubtedly be long-lasting.