STEAM

CYBER SECURITY

NLCS team Bitm4p was selected as Senior division winners, in the national final of the CyberCenturion V11 Security Challenge, with their all-female team. The objective of the competition, run by Cyber Security Challenge UK, is to successfully find and fix cyber security vulnerabilities on computer networks to defend them against attack.

In the Cyber Discovery Program, organised by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as part of the UK’s National Cyber Security Strategy, three students progressed through all stages and were invited to participate in the Elite Summer Camp. The program attracts more than 2000 participants nationwide and aims to raise awareness of careers in cyber security, giving students the opportunity to learn about real-life cyber security techniques, such as interrogating javaScript, social engineering and using cyphers. To support the School’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Maths) initiative, over the summer of 2020, we completely refurbished our Design and Graphics space into a state-of-the-art Engineering and Technology department featuring 3D printers, a laser cutter and a computer suite. This year, students have had the opportunity to access a curriculum that develops their confidence in making quality products through practical tasks and supports trial and error in solving problems. We encourage students to solve real-world design problems and provide a hub for inspiring creative, practical solutions for projects such as mars landers, wind turbines, pneumatic grabs, and robotic programming.

Our future STEAM curriculum will see students applying their subject knowledge holistically across subjects, supported by a collaboration between departments. With our new IDEAS Hub planned for completion in 2024, we are excited to continue expanding and adapting our curriculum to reflect the constant changes in the workplace, ensuring we position our students at the top of the national cohort and give them every chance to excel in life.

Cyber Centurion F1 IN SCHOOL’S WORLD FINALS

Five NLCS teams competed in the ‘F1 in Schools’ Competition, with one team competing at the World Finals. Team IQ made it through the North London Regional Finals, the UK National Finals and competed in the World Finals in June. As a development class team among all professional class teams, Team IQ achieved fifth place in the World Finals. Most of the team will be going on to compete again as a professional class team in 2022 year.

ENGINEERING SOCIETY COMPETITIONS

Our Engineering Society launched a series of competitions this year featuring a rocket project, a penny launcher and a marble run. It was fantastic to see so many students and their families rising to the challenges and creating some truly remarkable outcomes. WATCH HERE

VEX ROBOTICS CLUB

Like Engineering, Design & Technology, this was a new addition to the School that has seen teams of students design, build, and compete in robotics challenges over an academic year. While the external competitions were all held online, we did manage to have our own safe scrimmages in School, and the students are looking forward to the new challenges for 2021-22.