Double success for the Sacred Heart at UCD Cyber Wise Awards 2024

09-January-25
Double success for the Sacred Heart at UCD Cyber Wise Awards 2024

After taking part in the CyberWise Adventures in Cyberland Awards 2024, the Sacred Heart Secondary School found remarkable success, coming away with not one, but two awards.

The competition, organised by CyberWise Ireland, took place in O’Reilly Hall in UCD on the 10th of December and featured school teams from all over Ireland.

The event was a celebration of creativity, innovation and resilience in cybersecurity education. The event honored visionary student projects that break barriers, challenge gender biases and champion inclusivity in computer science and cybersecurity.

Speakers and guests present on the day included Minister Ossian Smyth who officially launched the UCD Centre for Cyber Resilience Education, Professor Colin Scott from UCD and judges and representatives from Microsoft, Oide, National Cybersecurity Ireland, Queen’s University Belfast and University of Limerick.

The Sacred Heart’s ‘CyberWise’ team impressed the judging panel with their exceptional project, “Breaking Barriers - Gender Bias Busting at SHS: Our Cyber Journey to Flatten the Gender Bias Curve” where the team came first place in the Busting Gender Bias Category and claimed the award for overall group winner of the entire competition.

The team consisted of three fifth-year students—Allyssa Bennies, Emma O'Brien, and Shibani Venugopal—along with two Transition Year students, Ciara Chambers and Avrit Rose Machado. They were joined by robotics team members Caitlin Murphy and Sarah Omoruyi, and guided by their dedicated teachers, Ms. Annette Griffin and Ms. Jacinta Gallagher.

The girls’ project investigated and documented the Sacred Heart School’s journey in cybersecurity, STEM and gender equality, analysing if and how the Sacred Heart’s journey in cybersecurity and STEM is breaking barriers.

Throughout the completion of the project, the ‘CyberWise’ team used various forms of research. One of the girls had the opportunity to use professional recording equipment to produce a podcast as part of the research. The girls also used Microsoft Forms to conduct surveys of current students about their experiences of STEM subjects and cybersecurity in the school. They also got the opportunity to interview past pupils, including one from London, via Teams. As well as that, the team was also given access to archival data, adding to their comprehensive range of research methods.

As a result of the team’s outstanding research, their project was able to display a structured timeline, highlighting the Sacred Heart’s Cyber journey from 1984, to present day. They included important milestones such as the installation of the first school computer in 1984 to the school’s transformation to book-free digital learning in 2015 to online teaching during the pandemic and the introduction of Technical Graphics and Computer Science as exam subjects in our school. The project shows the girls’ understanding and findings of addressing gender disparities, particularly in computer science and cybersecurity. The presentation shows the Sacred Heart’s achievements and efforts towards breaking barriers in our school, as well as the school’s continuous dedication of giving every girl the best possible foundation for success in technology, science, cybersecurity and beyond.

The school is so proud of the team’s hard work and dedication to the project, well done to all the girls and their teachers.

“It is not the function of women to remain in the background, but to bring into action those faculties of the mind that have been unjustly restrained."- Ada Lovelace

Article written by Ciara Chambers, Team member- SHS Cyberwise Research 2024

Double success for the Sacred Heart at UCD Cyber Wise Awards 2024Double success for the Sacred Heart at UCD Cyber Wise Awards 2024
Sacred Heart School, Tullamore
Daingean Road, Tullamore, Offaly, Ireland, R35K061
057 932 1747
Enquire
Location
© 2025 Sacred Heart School, Tullamore