‘The world of aesthetic computer programming was an unfamiliar area of learning for our school. We were delighted to be approached by Fiona and her team and welcomed the opportunity to access this exciting area of the curriculum. The opportunity to learn something new, such as JavaS¬cript, seemed like a challenging activity for our pupils. However, we were amazed at the way our year 4 pupils listened, observed, modelled, and created their own designs using the coding. Pupils were not fazed by these new areas of learning and their confidence and flexibility showed us what they were capable of, when presented with new concepts in a clear, sequential approach. Their final designs were impressive, and the pupils gained a huge amount of pride from what they had created with support. As teachers, we were able to relate the skills to other areas such as maths and literacy (the use of punctuation was a helpful comparison for pupils). When questioned, the pupils not only shared their confidence in their new skills but the shift in aspirations and the opening up of new horizons for them in terms of careers. We were delighted to see the spark that the coding activities generated in many of our pupils and have no doubt this initial activity will provide the start of a lifelong interest for some of our pupils’.

Becci Baston, Deputy Head teacher, St Mary the Virgin Church in Wales Primary School

'In my journey to becoming a lecturer, Dr Fiona Carroll has mentored me and provided me guidance which has helped me to get where I am today. Dr Carroll introduced me to opportunities such as the Micro-Credential courses that allowed me to experience lecturing first-hand. Throughout this process, Dr Carroll mentored me by providing best practices, guidance, and constant support. As an individual new to teaching in academia, Dr Carroll has been an excellent guide and a role model. I have learnt many skills from Dr Carroll that have helped me in my learning and teaching journey, from providing informative feedback to students' assignments to engaging students in the classroom… Without the support, guidance and opportunities provided by Dr Carroll, I would not be in the position I am in today'

Associate Tutor

'Whilst we came to the end of the workshop delivery, the children shared with me endless hugs, cute drawings and thank you cards, high fives and memories of dancing and laughter. These experiences will forever hold a memory in my mind and in my life. They are certainly the children of our future, and whilst the objective was to go in a teach and change the way these children think, the bigger impact was the fact that this project has given me the strength to change the way I think. It has also given me the courage in what I would like to do and how I can contribute towards change and be fearless and take example from these wonderful children of Blaenau Gwent!'

Associate Tutor