2019-01-21 BCS Bedford School Challenge 2019

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BCS (Bedford Branch) Schools Challenge 2019

A competition to showcase computer science in schools.

BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, champions the global IT profession and the interests of individuals engaged in that profession for the benefit of all. Since 2013, the BCS Bedford Branch has been running a coding competition for Schools to cultivate young computing leaders. The competition is open to all schools in the areas of Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire, Luton Borough, Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire.

Schools are invited to introduce the competition to students from Year 5 to Year 10

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This is an excellent activity for code clubs and Computing projects, suitable for students in Computing and Maths classes.

To participate in the competition, students can use Alice, Scratch or ANY suitable programming language.

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6 Competition Groups

Year 5 Online Safety

Create an educational resource that promotes the positive aspects of online talking and messaging but also helps people to understand when online behaviour could become inappropriate and risky. The resource must send out a safe online message so that people feel empowered to deal with uncomfortable situations online.

Year 6 Dealing with Cyberbullying

Create an educational resource that shows young people how to deal with Cyberbullying and what could be done to prevent it in the first place. The resource must send out a safe online message so that people feel empowered to deal with Cyberbullying in a safe and sensible way.

Year 7 Fake News

Create an educational resource that promotes the positive aspects of using online resources to learn, for school work and social interactions, but also be careful to check if the information is true or false. The resource must encourage a behaviour of critical evaluation to get the best from online information and discard the fake.

Year 8 Identity Theft

Produce a game that helps people to understand what identity theft is and why it is important to guard against it. The game could help the players recognise strategies used to access private information. The game must suggest ways to guard against phishing and identify theft.

Year 9 Mobile Phone Security

Mobile Phone is a ubiquitous addition to personal life. It also holds a lot of information about the owner. Criminals are increasingly targeting mobile phones as a way to compromise personal and organisation security in one way or another, often with data being stolen. Produce a game, that is fun to play, but informs the public about mobile phone security and how to protect themselves or their businesses.

Year 10 Dark Web

The Dark Web is perceived as a mysterious place by many and could attract computing savvy young people to go and find out more. Produce a game that helps people to understand what is the Dark Web and the positive ways people should approach it. The game could help the players to balance curiosity with responsibility. The game must suggest ways to guard against unintentionally becoming criminals.

Competition Rules:

  • Students may work individually, in pairs or teams of no more than 4.
  • Participants are students from year 5 to 10 and they enter the competition according to their year group.
  • Groups are encouraged to register your interest in the competition by 5th April 2019.
  • The deadline for submission is 1st July 2019.
  • Students are reminded to be e-aware and avoid music or images that are subject to copyright restrictions.
  • All work must be original and done with minimal help of teachers or parents. Help given must be notified on the entry form.
  • During the production students should follow the normal rules of safety and not reveal any personal details online (e.g. Scratch) and all work should be polite and respectful.
  • The judges’ decision is final.
  • This competition is open to all local education authorities funded and independent schools in Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire, Luton Borough, Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire.

Prizes to include:

Trophies, medals and other goodies which will be awarded at Cranfield University on 11th July 2019.

Judges will be looking for:

  • Creativity
  • Selection use, combination and presentation of images and text
  • The appropriate choice and use of programming instructions and should include: Custom blocks, Loops and Variables
  • The clarity of the finished presentation in demonstrating improved learning outcomes

For further information please contact: Jackie.samosa@mrus.co.uk

Messages from Community:

This is the third year Bedfordshire Police has supported The BCS (Bedford Branch) schools computing competition and each year we have really impressed by the standard of entries. Our day to day education work highlights that young people are passionate about keeping themselves and their peers safe online and by producing these fantastic resources the key messages we deliver in schools can be spread far and wide

Richard Denton
Children and Young People Development Officer and School Co-ordinator
Bedfordshire Police

Thanks again for organising the competition and for the award ceremony. Jakob found it very inspiring to see the various ways coding was used in the competition and also the commercial application of coding.

Mary Froud
Parent of Alameda Middle School, Bedford

The aim of the competition is to help get school children interested in computer science and encourage them to use computers creatively. The response had been great and we’ve had some absolutely superb entries. It’s fantastic to be working with local schools and potentially inspiring students to consider careers in the IT profession.

Dr Ip-Shing Fan
Chair of the BCS Bedford Branch

Video

Dr Ip-Shing Fan explains who the BCS bedford Branch is and describes the competition and how others can get involved. The recording has been tested to work in Chrome and Firefox, you may need to be patient an allow a little time for sufficient data to be downloaded before the playback starts.

Sponsors:

Natwest ONI Mark Rutherford Micro Bit Layer8

BCS Bedford Cranfield University

The sponsors list is continually updated as additional sponsors join.


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