No escape from fun cyber security event at Newbattle High

From left to right are Newbattle S5 pupils and CGI Games Master: Cole Spence, Ricky Waugh, Jackie Clark CGI Cyber Escape Games Master, Fraser Sutherland, Ian Galloway and Ewan Miller.

The experience, which has been brought to the school by the IT and consulting services company CGI, has been safely built within a mobile unit.

It allows small groups to participate in a short "escape" and within Covid guidance.

Groups of up to four work together to uncover clues, solve puzzles and accomplish cyber-related tasks to escape successfully in the time allowed.

The initiative is aimed at everyone from schoolchildren to executives so they can learn critical skills in a simulated real-world setting through interactive activities, much like other escape rooms.

This setting allows them to take on board everything from protecting their privacy and creating strong passwords, to physical security, device and document handling and navigating social media.

While of course having a really enjoyable time.

Depute headteacher Mark Davidson, of the Midlothian Digital Inclusion and Learning Team, said: “As an award-winning Digital Centre of Excellence, we’re always keen to embrace any experience that will improve pupils’ knowledge and understanding of cyber security.

“We’ve had groups of pupils pitting their wits against the CGI escape experience all week.

"They’ve all been thoroughly enjoying the experience and learning a lot at the same time.”

John Wordsworth-Goodram from CGI said: “The Cyber Escape experience is a wonderful way of educating people to protect themselves online in a fun, interactive way, as the pupils of Newbattle High School have found.

“But the experience is not just designed for the next generation – it is for everyone across all sectors of the economy.

"In today’s world we spend so much of our personal and professional lives online, so we must make sure that we have the knowledge to recognise and follow the correct techniques that keep us and our organisations safe from cyber-attack.

"CGI’s Cyber Escape experience has been specially designed to achieve this, in an enjoyable learning environment.”