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O ur school, Wyedean School and Sixth Form Centre in Sedbury, Gloucestershire, is part of a cyber security hub for the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). 13% of our intake are disadvantaged students, and we also cater for the British Army’s 1 RIFLES service children. One of our notable ex-head girls is the internationally acclaimed author J. K. Rowling, who was allegedly inspired to write about her young wizard’s experiences at Hogwarts by science lessons at the school. Today, the school looks to the future. As part of our drive to embrace and champion 21st century learning, we pursue a whole school approach that encourages skill building across a range of technology; around 70 of our students currently enjoy enhancing their computing skills as active members of the school’s cyber club. We’re committed to showing that cyber security is an equal opportunities career path, and regularly invite representatives from large organisations within the tech industry to deliver talks on technology and cyber security. We’ve previously welcomed speakers from the Bank of England, Cygenta, BAE Systems and Deep3, among others. Getting into coding We’re also passionate about stories and bringing learning to life. As the school’s assistant principal academic, I believe that simple computing devices are a good introduction to coding, and in 2016 we became one of a number of schools to be given a large quantity of BBC micro:bits to support this work. Using computing devices in lessons involves demonstrating real-world applications of the topics and technologies under discussion. Our devices were used to power a Lego house and a countdown clock, and were also pressed into service for our escape room project, in tandem with Raspberry Pi devices. Inspired by J. K. Rowling, our students also programmed the BBC micro:bits to tell which Hogwarts house their friends belonged to. ABOUT THE AUTHOR EmmaWilliams is assistant principal academic atWyedean School and Sixth FormCentre,and has led the teaching of computerscience at the school since 2002. With funding fromNominet,theMicro:bit Educational Foundation has released a free educational platform forteaching coding lessons usingthe BBCmicro:bit. It includesmicro:bit classroom,an online tool designedtomakemanaging and reviewing students’work quick and easy - find outmore at micro:bit.org Howwe tackled the computing gender gap 61 C OM P U T I N G Our key objective throughout, however, has been to get more girls coding. To that end, we became part of the NCSC’s Cyber Schools Hub project, which was set up in response to a study which found that women made up just 11% of those working in the cyber security industry. The devices we give each child to use throughout their school journey are flexible, fun and accessible. We’ve seen how they’re just as likely to be used to create practical and highly useful systems as they are for the purposes of play, whether it be at school or at home. Rising numbers Prior to the BBC micro:bits being introduced in 2016, just 11 girls from of a group of 47 chose computer science as a GCSE option. The following year’s cohort saw the proportion increase to 32 girls out of 79 students, and the numbers have been rising ever since. It’s gratifying to see that by generating strong links to tech careers and industries, our students are increasingly seeing the brilliant possibilities of choosing a career in the tech and cyber security industries. Recent NCSC statistics seem to back this up, with October 2019 seeing a year-on- year rise in applications for cyber security courses from girls of almost 50%. Our involvement in the NCSC Cyber Schools Hub project has provided our female students with a good grounding to help them get started on their tech journey, and we’re proud that our lessons, projects and industry talks are continuing to contribute to their future success. teachwire.net/secondary The key to attracting take-up of computer science among girls lies in inspirational industry figures, inter-school collaboration and thinking creatively, says EmmaWilliams TEACH SECONDARY SPECIAL COMPUTING