Nichola Wilkin

Leaving university in 1996, I was employed as a computer programmer, creating bespoke software. I became a senior corporate trainer for some major international companies including the De Beers Group, J.P. Morgan and Nordea Bank among others.

In 2005 I followed my childhood dream of becoming a teacher and using those skills I had learnt in industry. I worked in a state school before becoming the head of department in a private boys’ school where I introduced computing to the curriculum and started experimenting with ways to teach the kids programming.

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I always sought ways to reduce my workload and save time with planning and marking and that’s what I want you to be able to enjoy too.

I can’t take away your marking, report writing, parents evening, the tedium of those Monday morning staff briefings or stop your bottom set from licking the computer monitors.

But I can help you spend less time planning so you can spend more time teaching. Nobody got into teaching to spend every Sunday creating worksheets, marking homework or collating statistics.

All my lessons are ready to use and are ideal for both specialist and non-specialist teachers, meaning you no longer need to devote hours to develop resources.

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I am one of the most popular independent authors of computer science teaching resources in the UK with well over 1,500,000 downloads.

I've written a book (Python by Example: Learning to Program in 150 Challenges) which has consistently been on the top seller list on Amazon, since its publication in 2019.

I'm proud to have been shortlisted for the Teach Secondary Awards for Curriculum Impact, a very rare honour for an independent publisher and shows the high esteem my teaching resources are valued.

And I've also been lucky enough to have been asked to write teaching resources for tons of companies including BBC Bitesize, Cambridge University Press and educational robotics companies.

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Standard education really, nothing particularly interesting to mention.

OK here is the boring bit… I graduated in 1996 with a 2:1 BSc (Hons) in Business Information Systems. After working in industry for a number of years I decided to pursue a career in teaching.

I returned to university and took my PGCE and was awarded a Distinction in 2005.

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I’m Nicky (only my mother calls me Nichola) and I'm the founder and director of Nichola Wilkin Ltd.

In 2012 I broke my back in a snowboarding accident. Unfortunately, this meant I was unable to teach in the classroom for many years. But, this coincided with the UK Government announcement that ICT was being replaced with a new computing curriculum in the UK.

My teacher friends wanted my resources and lesson ideas and asked me to help them. Eventually, they persuaded me to create Nichola Wilkin Ltd and I am proud to say the resources I produce have helped hundreds of thousands of teachers and students all over the world.

I live just outside Cambridge, England with my husband and two sons who tower above me and I'm currently attempting to master the potter’s wheel in the little spare time I have.