St Margaret’s CofE Primary School, located in an affluent town, is one of seven primary schools in the area. With a two-form-entry system and a low proportion of pupil premium, the school has 16 dedicated teaching staff and just over 430 pupils.

At the heart of the school are its Christian values, strongly emphasising justice, courage, thankfulness and respect. Beyond the classroom, St Margaret’s is committed to serving the wider community and celebrating the diverse cultures and backgrounds of its school community.

In our exploration of how Computing has been effectively implemented in the school, we interviewed Francesca Dawson, a teacher at St Margaret’s. The school’s aim was to enhance pupil knowledge and make Computing an integral part of the curriculum. With the help of Kapow Primary, this has resulted in improved teacher performance, increased pupil progress, and heightened engagement in learning.

Subscribing to Kapow Primary

What subject(s) do you have with us? 

Computing, Art & Design, RSE & PSHE, and History.

Why did you choose the subject(s) you are subscribed to?

Purely because of the format of the scheme of work. It was easy to follow and easy to see, and the condensed curriculum was a big selling point for us. With other curriculums, we have had to create this ourselves, so as it was already done, it was a huge benefit.

How easy was Kapow Primary to implement?

We have had Art & Design since January 2023 and Computing since Easter. It can take a bit of time to implement things, but we had a staff meeting and made sure that everyone was there. We walked them through how to log in and what they would do if they were teaching a lesson.

What problems did your teaching staff have that Kapow Primary has solved?

The teacher videos were very useful – particularly for staff who don’t feel very confident in terms of teaching Computing. It has also been really helpful to see the progression of the vocabulary over the years.

What goals did you want to achieve using Kapow Primary’s Computing scheme?

We really wanted to see increased pupil knowledge and see Computing become a core part of the curriculum here at St Margaret’s. It is so easy to think that kids already know so much about Computing, but when you look at Kapow Primary, for example, Emails in Year 3, it is easy to assume everyone knows that. But now we know all children will be taught how to do these things. It’s also the same for the other subjects: we now have the confidence that we have everything covered.

Kapow Primary in action

What do you think is the most helpful thing about Kapow Primary?

The teacher videos! They have really improved teacher performance in our school. You can magpie tips from the person in the video and pick and choose what you want to take from it to help support your teaching. And it is organised so well on the website. The condensed curriculum has also really helped, particularly for Years 2 and 6 where they have SATs and times tables tests.

How accessible are the units, considering the existing pupil knowledge and skill level when you first implemented the scheme?

They are pitched well, especially at upper key stage 2, and my colleagues at the other key stages also feel that it is at the right level to help the children progress. They are also seeing the children progress more with these units than with other schemes. We now have a fantastic pupil display board with all the knowledge organisers and everything linked to the year group – because all the resources are there, and it is much more child-friendly!

How easy or difficult do your teachers find it to deliver the lessons?

Really, the only challenge is the number of devices! But all the feedback about the actual Kapow Primary lessons is how well they fit into the slot that we have to teach Computing.

What has been your pupils’ favourite unit/lesson?

Key stage 1 has really enjoyed the Scratch units. Year 6 absolutely loved the Bletchley Park units, and the History of Computers because it linked well to our WW2 topic.

Can you describe your experience of assessing Computing for your class using the Kapow Primary materials?

We use Fisher Family Trust (FFT) and use this to assess as a school. 

Does the scheme offer enough variety and diversity in the ways Computing is taught to engage your pupils and reflect and broaden their understanding?

Yes, absolutely. The way I sold it to my Year 6’s was as ‘computing without computers’ – they couldn’t picture it at all but are now so engaged! Especially the Bletchley Park unit – particularly the lesson on following instructions.

Do you regularly use our supporting materials such as deep dive toolkits, pupil progression of knowledge and skills guides, and, if so, what have you found the most helpful?

Yes, I’ve shared these with all the staff, who have really found this useful. We do concentrate as a school on prior knowledge, so they have engaged with it.