FROM taking down hackers to developing apps, thousands of secondary school pupils have been learning key digital skills thanks to a local campaign.

#Techgoals – a ground-breaking push to improve digital teaching in schools across the Leeds City Region, including Keighley – has now reached more than 10,000 pupils aged 11 to 16.

The initiative, the first of its kind in the UK, used a £50,000 budget to allow secondary schools to cover the cost of releasing teachers for specialist training.

Workshops brought together expertise from digital employers such as Sky, Barnsley Digital Media Centre, the Digital Health Enterprise Zone and NHS Digital.

The teachers then went back to their schools ready to teach modules such as Countdown to Chaos, in which pupils learn about cyber security by being tasked with catching a hacker.

The workshops formed part of a four-year strategy to raise awareness of digital skills and careers in schools, in a bid to help make the Leeds City Region a global leader in computing and digital technology.

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council and the skills lead for the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Leeds City Region has an ambition to become a globally recognised digital centre.

"Cultivating the potential of our future workforce, through pioneering initiatives such as #techgoals, is fundamental to achieving this and I am thrilled by the success of the campaign so far.”