Variation on learning

As part of their Second World War history project, the Year 6 youngsters were treated to a hands-on demonstration of an actual antique Enigma machine.

Claire Ellis, an expert on secret codes, explained how thousands of British boffins worked around the clock in wooden huts at Bletchley Park during the war to decipher the baffling Enigma code.

The machine itself, which looks like a typewriter, encrypted the Nazis' secret messages quickly and easily. The one shown to Hawke's Farm pupils was a genuine article.

'It was a fascinating presentation,' said Year 6 teacher Gary Hind. 'She showed us all kinds of historical code-breaking, from ancient Rome right through to the war.'

PICTURED is Claire Ellis with two pupils getting to grips with the Enigma machine.