Young codebreakers create puzzle-packed cards for GCHQ

Cryptic clues and puzzling pictures were the order of the day, when students at a BBCET school were tasked with creating a Christmas card for the Government Communications Headquarters, GCHQ.

All age groups at Sacred Heart Catholic High School in Newcastle were invited to take part in the GCHQ Christmas Card Competition, which was overseen by Head of Computer Science Dale Stapleton, along with Computer Science Teachers Hannah Lunn and Sophie Coldwell.

“They had to design a cryptic Christmas card that GCHQ could use for this year’s GCHQ Challenge,” explained Deputy Headteacher Louisa Connolly.

“It should be imaginative and carry a festive theme. It must also include a hidden puzzle or code. Along with the design, the students needed to provide an explanation of how the puzzle works, and give the solution.”

The UK intelligence organisation sets an annual Christmas Challenge for students aged 11 to 18, which is designed by GCHQ’s own codebreakers, and requires creative thinking and teamwork to solve.

“This is the first time that GCHQ have run the ‘design the Christmas card’ competition, but Sacred Heart has taken part in the GCHQ Christmas Challenge for over five years,” continued Miss Connolly.

With the students responding so enthusiastically to the challenge, the school decided to hold its own internal contest to select three winning designs to send to GCHQ.

Pipping all other puzzlers to the post, the Sacred Heart winners were Valerie Artola Cardenas in Year 7, Ellie Harrison in Year 8, and Ameya Jithesh, also in Year 8.

“The competition was open to every year group, and promoted in tutor groups and Computer Science lessons,” added Miss Connolly. “We were overwhelmed with the number of entries.”