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 competition, part of the Busting Gender Bias in Computer Science and Cyber Security initiative led by Dr. Rachel Farrell from the UCD School of Education and funded through the Science Foundation Ireland Discover Programme, took place in O’Reilly Hall, UCD, on December 10th. It featured school teams from across Ireland.
The event was a celebration of creativity, innovation and resilience in cyber security education. The event honored visionary student projects that break barriers, challenge gender biases and champion inclusivity in computer science and cybersecurity.
Speakers and guests on the day included Minister Ossian Smyth, who officially launched the UCD Centre for Cyber Resilience Education under the leadership of Dr Rachel Farrell. Other attendees included UCD Deputy President and Registrar Professor Colin Scott, Jacky Fox, Managing Director of Accenture’s security business in Ireland along with judges and representatives from Microsoft Education Ireland, Oide Technology in Education, Scoilnet, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Cyber Ireland, Queen’s University Belfast, University of Limerick and the SFI ADAPT Centre for AI Digital Content Technology.
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