Vicky Cottrill-Gray is the editor-in-chief and founder of Kapow Primary. We sat down with Vicky to ask her a few questions about the company, and these were her answers. Join us as we uncover the story behind Kapow Primary.

Who started Kapow Primary and why?

Kapow Primary came to be in 2019 due to schools needing greater support. 

Primary education was experiencing a combination of factors at the time; the updated 2014 national curriculum was less prescriptive than the previous version; budget cuts meant that primary schools lost some of their subject-specialist teachers; and there was an increased focus on the broader curriculum subjects.

With all of this, my experience within educational publishing, and my short stint as a primary teacher, I saw an opportunity.

What were you trying to achieve? 

We wanted to support primary teachers to deliver high-quality learning in the foundation subjects. Our aim was to offer teachers a long-term and comprehensive solution – something that was more beneficial than sending them on a ‘quick-fix’ short course. We wanted to upskill teachers, help them develop their subject knowledge, and create meaningful and memorable lessons for children. 

Where did the name Kapow Primary come from?

We had a brainstorming session for names. Many ideas were being bandied around and ‘Kapow’ was suggested by one of the team. We really liked it, as it represented our desire to be impactful and punchy. It’s concise, meaningful and, hopefully, memorable. I also tested it out on my son at home – he was a fan!

Which subject did you start with and why? 

We undertook market research with teachers and subject leaders to get under the skin of their challenges. Computing came out as the subject they needed support with the most. This wasn’t a surprise, as it was a new subject (replacing ICT) and included coding – something most teachers had never encountered before.

What are Kapow Primary’s key values and principles?

In everything we do, we ask ourselves:

• Are we supporting schools and teachers as much as possible?
• Is what we’re creating accessible to schools, teachers and pupils?
• Is it high quality? 

We’ve adopted this as a kind of mantra, and it’s what we always return to when working on something new.

How would you describe Kapow Primary to someone who has never heard of it?

It is a digital educational resource. It provides end-to-end progression for the national curriculum for primary school foundation subjects from Reception to Year 6. We offer lesson plans and comprehensive teaching resources while simultaneously upskilling teachers in their subjects.

What effect did the lockdown and the pandemic have on Kapow Primary? 

Before the pandemic, our small team was based in the London office 100% of the time. Lockdown forced us to get to grips quickly with the challenges of working from home: new technology, online meetings, and some of us were juggling homeschooling our own children, too! 

For us, something really positive came out of working from home. With the need to grow the team, we tried recruiting remotely. As a result, we now have a geographically diverse team which greatly benefits the product. We offer hybrid, flexible and remote working, depending on where people are based. 

How much has Kapow Primary grown since it was founded?

Beyond anything I could have dreamed of, to be honest! At the start of the pandemic, in March 2020, we had only launched the year before and had grown a small customer base. 

Today, we have over 5,500 school subscribers and new schools joining daily. Our team has grown from four people in March 2020 to nearly 50. So, yes, we’ve seen massive growth in a short period.

What are the key features of Kapow Primary that set it apart from other providers of online education resources? 

We offer a blend of support for primary school subject leaders and teachers. One of the biggest challenges subject leaders cited when we did our research was that they needed to support their colleagues with their subject knowledge, but they didn’t have the time. So, we have done a lot of work on the progression of knowledge and skills and unpicked national curriculum requirements; this forms the basis of our units of work and lessons. 

For teachers, we are a one-stop-shop for everything they need to deliver high-quality, tried-and-tested lessons. We provide lesson-specific CPD and tips within the lesson plans via our bite-sized teacher videos. 

We work with primary subject-specialist teachers who are passionate about their subjects. We want to share that passion with other teachers. And that really comes through via the lessons.

What would you most like Kapow Primary to be known for?

To make a genuine difference. That is what motivates me and the team. We have such huge respect for what teachers do. Most of us have been teachers. And to know that we’ve made a difference in their workload and their ability to feel confident in delivering high-quality lessons, that’s what I’d like us to be known for.

What’s new for Kapow Primary at the moment?

We’ve just launched two brand new subjects – Science and Religion and worldviews – which is really exciting. We launched Science after receiving many requests for it. Our Religion and worldviews curriculum is forward-thinking and eye-opening. I’m excited to see how both of these subjects go.

Do you have any plans for future developments?

We will be launching Spanish in September, which people have been asking us for. It will be a really vibrant scheme. It includes a fabulous bank of phoneme videos to support pupils’ pronunciation.

We will be creating some alternative themed units for our existing subjects, predominantly in Art and design. 

We’re also further developing our Design and technology subject to feature more designers from the real world. 

To support teachers further, I hope to see even more CPD within Kapow Primary. I’m hoping we can offer greater flexibility around website customisation. 

Of course, we’re continually updating our lessons and responding to curriculum changes. And who knows, we might even produce an international version of Kapow Primary.

Out of everything you’ve achieved at Kapow Primary, what are you most proud of?

I’m most proud of the team that we’ve built. They are fantastic, hardworking, dedicated, passionate and clever. Kapow Primary wouldn’t be where it is without each and every one of them. 

And, also, every single time a customer says something positive, it makes me feel super proud of what we’ve done.

Thank you, Vicky Cottrill-Gray, for answering these questions! Kapow Primary has supported over 100,000 teachers thanks to your vision and commitment. You should be very proud indeed!