February 2015

Bursaries for disadvantaged schools have Been added to Bletchley Park’s expanding education programme

Winton Global Investment Management is funding a pilot bursary scheme to allow free school trips to Bletchley Park.

Bletchley Park welcomes more than 9,000 schoolchildren every year to its thriving education programme. The bursaries will be available to schools which might be most in need of financial support. Each bursary will cover the cost of coach hire and 40 children attending two workshops during their time at Bletchley Park.

The first school to participate in the scheme was Greenleys Junior School in Milton Keynes. A group of year six students were given a Codes and Ciphers workshop, tried their hands at operating a real World War Two Enigma machine and toured the uniquely historic site.

Victoria Worpole, the Bletchley Park Trust’s Director of Learning and Collections, says “These bursaries will help enormously by making exciting and engaging school trips to Bletchley Park available to children to whom it might have been out of reach. It’s vital that we inspire young minds. Encouraging children to put themselves in the Codebreakers’ shoes to solve seemingly impossible problems brings the STEM subjects to life.”

The scheme forms part of a greatly improved education programme at Bletchley Park. Cyber Security Workshops are now available either as part of a school visit or at the school itself, since the appointment of the first Online Safety Officer. Schools, colleges, clubs or societies can book an Enigma Outreach visit, where Bletchley Park’s Education Officer demonstrates a real World War Two Enigma machine which participants can try using themselves.

Picture: ©ShaunArmstrong/mubsta.com

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