In a nutshell, what is Kapow Primary? Authored by practising subject specialist teachers, Kapow Primary is an online resource designed to help educators deliver specialist subjects with confidence. It also assists schools to create consistency across these curriculum areas, while saving time and money.
Covering KS1 and KS2 for art and design, computing, DT, languages, music and wellbeing, it provides teachers with everything they need, from lesson plans to teacher-focused instructional videos and classroom materials.
Why does Kapow Primary focus on the more-specialist subjects? As a teacher, I always wanted to give children a well-rounded experience, yet one of the biggest challenges I faced was teaching the subjects to achieve this, like French, music and DT.
Almost every teacher I’ve met has told me the same, so when creating my own product I wanted it to be something that would make a real difference – for teachers and children.
Why is now the right time for this product? Our journey started two years ago, with schools nationwide raising specialist subjects as an area of concern.
Ofsted has recently reiterated its commitment to a broad curriculum and this change in focus creates a challenge for schools. It’s up to publishers to help schools address this without major upheaval or cost.
I think Kapow Primary does exactly that and I’m excited by its potential impact.
What makes your approach unique? Kapow is designed to make teaching easier, immediately. The short instructional videos are unique – they’re teacher focused and bring lesson plans to life in minutes.
Techniques which can seem difficult on paper suddenly become simple – inspiring teachers and building CPD into lesson planning, yet still saving time.
The combination of these videos alongside classroom-tested lessons and ready-made resources is simple but powerful.
Who has created the resources? We handpicked a group of primary subject specialist teachers to collaborate with us, keeping numbers low to maintain consistency and quality and creating an environment that allows us to challenge each other.
They’re an impressive bunch and include a parliamentary advisor, a TES subject genius and even a nominee for European Digital Woman of the Year. Best of all, they have incredible passion for making their subjects accessible.
Why have you included wellbeing? Increasing focus on children’s mental health is a necessity but can create a challenge for teachers – being another ‘specialist’ area.
The country’s leading online mental health provider for children, Xenzone, has helped us create engaging lessons addressing the relevant aspects of the PSHE Association’s curriculum.
We’ve also created bite-size videos for teachers containing easy-to-digest information on prevalent mental health conditions and practical tips for helping pupils.
To find out more visit kapowprimary.com.
Vicky Cottrill is the creator of Kapow Primary. She was formerly a teacher and head of primary at educational publisher Espresso.
