Highlight of the Week

Third place for CyberFirst Girls

We were delighted when a team from CSL qualified for the Regional Semi-Finals of the CyberFirst Girls Competition in February, and could hardly believe it when they won their place in the Grand Final, beating nine other Welsh schools to get there. Agnes R, Bethan D, Iris L and Janvi P, all from 8D, became one of the last eight teams to compete for the coveted trophy from a field of 12,000 entrants.

The CyberFirst organisation is run by NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre, a part of GCHQ) and they offer courses and competitions to promote interest in this vital field. They are seeking the brightest and best to keep our country safe from cyber crime and they are particularly keen to promote interest among girls as there is a real shortage of women in the workplace in cyber related careers.

We were honoured to be the home team as the event was held in Cardiff this year. The prize for qualifying included a trip to the Royal Mint at Llantrisant as well as a delicious dinner in the beautiful banqueting hall in Cardiff Castle on Sunday evening. On arrival at the Castle the participants were met by Billy, the Mascot for the Royal Welsh Regiment, and later enjoyed a stunning display by members of the Royal Welsh Marching Band whose drums and sticks lit up for effect, raising a collective ‘OOOH!’ from the girls.

The competition began in earnest on Monday morning at the Cornerstone Centre in Cardiff. Girls were given a scenario revolving around the Olympic Games 2020, held in Kotyo, Pajan. Cyber criminals had compromised security, athletes’ data, the monorail system, the lighting system and communications among many other problems that the girls had to investigate and solve. Intense competition ensued and, with the score board constantly on view and updating, the pressure was on. 

At 2pm the main part of the competition ended and the scores were frozen. But the pressure was not over for the girls who had to give a presentation to a board of three adults of their findings from the challenges they had faced. Mrs Dinsmore was allowed to watch and was so impressed by the way the girls conducted themselves as they explained their findings in a mature and eloquent manner.

After a final group activity that saw all eight groups working together to crack the code on a padlock, the scores were finally in. Congratulations went to King Edward’s School from Bath who were the eventual winners and I was delighted to hear that the CSL girls came a very close third. Goody bags and CyberFirst Sweatshirts were awarded to all participants and contact details swapped between new friends before an exhausted group of girls dispersed back to their home towns.

Agnes, Bethan, Janvi and Iris were superb ambassadors for The Cathedral School. Their bubbly friendliness engaged both students and adults alike and their obvious enthusiasm for the competition was a delight to observe. Well done, girls. You were amazing!