WIREDGOV

Pupils from Gloucestershire will develop invaluable skills for future careers thanks to their schools forming the UK’s first ‘Cyber Schools Hubs’.

Following a competitive process, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has selected Cleeve School in Cheltenham and Beaufort Co-operative Academy in Gloucester to deliver the first hub.

During the 12-month pilot, the schools will host events, trial content and develop innovative ways of introducing cyber security, computer science and related subjects to their pupils.

Cleeve School will act as the lead in delivering the exciting initiative and the hub will also engage with other schools across Gloucestershire. Newent Community School will join as another hub in due course.

Chris Ensor, NCSC Deputy Director for Skills and Growth, said:

“As the home of GCHQ, our parent unit, Gloucestershire is the natural place to start this initiative and we’re delighted to have Cleeve and Beaufort schools on board.

“The cyber threat is growing, so making sure young people have the cyber security skills to help protect us has never been more important.

“Supported by NCSC advice and technical expertise, each school that takes part will increase their teaching of cyber security and will promote initiatives to increase gender diversity in computer science.

“This initiative forms part of our efforts to address the current cyber security skills gap. We have to develop a talent pipeline that will meet the UK’s future cyber security needs.”

Participating schools will build educational resources for teachers, while both teachers and students will directly benefit from the NCSC’s support and technical expertise.

Others supporting the initiative include the South West Regional Cyber Crime Unit, the Bank of England, Northrop Grumman and Cyber Security Associates.

Alwyn Richards, Principal at Cleeve School, said:

“We are delighted to be the lead school in the Cyber Schools Hubs initiative. We are very aware of the significant role cyber is playing in our young people’s lives and will continue to do so in the future.

“Our involvement will allow our young people to directly benefit from the expertise utilised and developed, and we look forward to helping improve the development of cyber and computer science skills across the region.”

David Bishop, Principal at Beaufort Academy, said:

“This exiting project represents a fantastic opportunity for the whole community at Beaufort Co-operative Academy.

“Through the spirit of collaboration and partnership with other schools and industry supporters it will inspire the next generation of highly skilled and qualified scientists and engineers.

“This is a genuine chance to be at the forefront of national development in this area and we feel privileged to be a part of it.”

Notes to Editors

Schools Cyber Hubs

• Teachers at primary and senior school level and parents/governors can get involved by getting in touch with their local hub. Both Cleeve and Beaufort will be running outreach programmes in the not too distant future. Keep an eye on their webpages.
• Teaching resources will be made available to all through the participating schools’ websites and also the Computing at Schools website.
• Local companies can get involved by getting in touch with their local hub.

National Cyber Security Centre

• The UK Government is fully committed to defending against cyber threats and address the cyber skills gap to develop and grow talent. The NCSC was created as part of the five year National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS) announced in 2016, supported by £1.9billion of transformational investment.
• The NCSC provides a single, central body for cyber security at a national level and is the UK’s technical authority on cyber. It manages national cyber security incidents, carries out real-time threat analysis and provides tailored sectoral advice.
• GCHQ is the parent body for the NCSC, meaning that it can draw on the organisation’s world-class skills and sensitive capabilities.