Maths students have recently visited Bletchley Park, near Milton Keynes, the central site for Britain's codebreakers during World War Two, where the German Enigma messages were decoded.
The trip started with a short talk about the history of code breaking. This included the opportunity to see and use a genuine WWII Enigma machine. Students then took part in a practical game to decode a message.
After enjoying lunch in the sunshine, the group headed to the Mansion and explored the grand house that was the main building in Bletchley before extra huts were built to accommodate the growing number of workers. Inside the Mansion the students enjoyed various displays including some housing the props used in the award winning historical movie, The Imitation Game, which is set at Bletchley Park.
The tour continued into one of the huts consisting of various rooms and displays, some of them interactive. Each display highlighted an important factor in wartime communication, such as the use of pigeons. The students then had the opportunity to see more of the Victorian estate including the Polish memorial which commemorates the significant Polish contribution to breaking German codes. The tour concluded with a look at the world-famous rebuild of the first electronic computer, Colossus, built to help decipher the messages sent between Hitler and his generals.
Kathy Fry, a Maths teacher at Harrow College who accompanied the students, commented "As well as being a great day out, this trip showed our students a place where the application of Maths has had a huge global impact. Students gained a great deal from the trip and we look forward to repeating it for our new Maths students who will be starting in September 2016".
Maths student Aisha Gendra was one of the pupils who went on the trip. She said "Bletchley Park is a place one would never regret visiting".
For more about studying Maths at Harrow College, click here.