Student Focus: Fiona Kempton

As we kick off the next series of student focus pieces, we are delighted to introduce one of our current students, Fiona (Fee) Kempton.

As an EdTech consultant with over twenty years of experience. Fee holds certifications as a Google Certified Trainer and Coach, as well as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Trainer. She has developed and implemented EdTech strategies across various educational institutions, including schools and government agencies.

Fee holds a Masters in Educational Research from Cambridge University. She is also known for her work as a speaker at several education conferences and as a mentor for the FutureLearn 'Girls' Education' course.

Today we are going to catch up on Fee's experience on the course three weeks in and see what her throughts are so far.

Enrolling in the coding bootcamp has been an exciting adventure, filled with rapid learning and personal growth. The team and their knowledge and engaging teaching methods have made even the most challenging concepts easily understandable… in the end.

The supportive class atmosphere encourages teamwork and collaboration among classmates - there have been many days where I have struggled, but because we all draw on our strengths sometimes I am being helped and sometimes I am helping others. The trachin team and assistants on the course are incredibly patient and help you to solve your problems yourself.

The hands-on projects, albeit demanding, provide a real-world setting to what we have learned about in the week - we all really want to excel at these so the optional stretch goals help us to see where we could go. In particular, I have found the learning about APIs to be particularly awesome.

I am currently working on a personal project to generate gin cocktail names, pictures, recipes, and mixing instructions using APIs, and I am excited to see how this project will evolve as I learn more on the course.

Have you encountered any challenges in keeping up with the pace, and how have you addressed them?

As a student on a web development bootcamp, I've found the pace to be challenging yet attainable, keeping me engaged and motivated. The instructors' willingness to adjust the pace based on our understanding is commendable, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to grasp the concepts effectively.

While juggling freelance Google training with the bootcamp has presented its share of challenges, the flexibility of the course has been a lifesaver. Accessing course materials through Moodle, Discord, or GitHub has been invaluable, allowing me to catch up on missed sessions or review topics whenever necessary.

This flexibility has been crucial in maintaining my momentum and keeping up with the rigorous demands of the bootcamp.

Tim is AMAZING!!! As a teacher for 25 years, who teaches online each week and who worked through lockdown, how he manages to engage and deliver this complex content and practical skills is incredible.

He brings high energy to each session, is responsive to student questions and tries to ensure that noone gets left behind. The assistant are also amazing at giving us hints and tips to make our tasks easier, for instance making changes in inspect, especially when using flex, getting the page how we want it and then copying the code.

Fee has joined the software development coding bootcamp under the New Anglia LEP skills bootcamp program, joining the Norwich coding bootcamp cohort. We will keep updating on Fee's and other member of the communities journey, so stay tuned. Until next time, good luck on the rest of the journey Fee.

About the Author

James has 8 years with Fortune 200 US firm ITW, experience of managing projects in China, USA, and throughout Europe. James has worked with companies such as Tesco, Vauxhall, ITW, Serco, McDonalds. James has experience in supporting start-up and scale up companies such as Readingmate, Gorilla Juice and Harvest London. James completed his MBA at the University of East Anglia in 2018.