This History teacher video introduces the use of hot seating as a powerful strategy to develop inquiry skills through questioning. In this drama-based technique, a teacher or pupil adopts the role of a historical figure while others pose questions to explore their experiences, beliefs, and significance. The video explains how this technique supports children’s understanding of different perspectives and encourages the use of open-ended questions to elicit detailed responses. It also demonstrates how hot seating can be integrated into a range of topics, such as exploring the lives of Tudor child apprentices.
Teachers are supported with practical guidance for modelling and scaffolding question writing, including using question starters like “how,” “why,” and “describe.” Children are encouraged to think critically about the kind of information they want to discover and how to structure questions to gain deeper insights. Hot seating develops pupils’ empathy, their ability to interpret historical sources, and their understanding of the significance of historical individuals. By practising this technique in a safe and structured way, children build confidence in speaking, listening, and historical thinking.
This History teacher video explores how the census can be used as a powerful and accessible primary source in the classroom. It highlights how census data provides insight into real lives from the past, supporting pupils in developing key disciplinary skills such as enquiry, continuity and change, and similarity and difference. The video shows how children can use the census to investigate their local community, ask historical questions, and draw inferences, just as historians do.
This History teacher video explores how children develop the skills to work with historical sources and evidence. It explains how pupils across Key Stages 1 and 2 learn to identify, examine, and interpret a wide range of sources—including written, visual, and material items—to build their understanding of the past. The video distinguishes between primary and secondary sources, highlighting how each can provide valuable insights when carefully analysed. It also explains how even biased sources are useful, as they offer a perspective from the time.
The video supports teachers in helping pupils use sources for historical inquiry—extracting evidence, making interpretations, and forming their own versions of past events. It also shows how different interpretations of the same source are to be expected and encouraged, using practical examples like portraits of Henry VIII. The Kapow Primary scheme builds these inquiry skills gradually, supporting children to develop more complex historical thinking as they progress.
This video introduces teachers and subject leaders to Kapow Primary’s RSE & PSHE scheme. It explains the structure and flexibility of the curriculum, including long-term plans for standard, condensed, and mixed-age settings. The video covers how progression is built across strands, how the scheme aligns with statutory guidance, and how to support planning, assessment, and confidence in delivery. Teachers are shown how to tailor the scheme to their school’s needs, ensuring comprehensive and age-appropriate learning from Year 1 to Year 6.
This video features Clive Davies discussing what to expect during an Ofsted inspection ‘learning walk’ focused on teaching and learning. Recorded on 29th June 2022, it offers practical insights into how schools can prepare for and approach these walkthroughs with confidence and clarity.
Find the accompanying slides here.
This informative session with Cat Lamin offers practical strategies and guidance for educators on supporting pupils’ online safety. It explores key considerations in helping children navigate digital spaces responsibly and confidently, equipping teachers with tools to foster a safer online experience in school and at home.
Find the accompanying slides here.
This video introduces Kapow Primary’s Design and Technology scheme and offers essential guidance for subject leaders. It explains the available long-term plans, highlights progression, assessment strategies, and resource planning, and provides helpful advice for adapting the scheme to meet your school’s needs. Whether you’re new to the subject or looking to enhance your leadership, this video will help you implement a successful D&T curriculum from Year 1 to Year 6.
This video introduces Kapow Primary’s Music scheme and provides guidance for subject leaders on implementing a coherent and progressive music curriculum from EYFS to Year 6. It covers long-term planning options, assessment tools, instrumental lessons, teacher support resources, and strategies for adapting the scheme to meet your school’s needs with confidence.
This Kapow Primary round table discussion, recorded on 11th May 2022, offers valuable insights into how schools can approach a ‘deep dive’ during an Ofsted inspection. It features members of the Kapow Primary team exploring what deep dives involve and how curriculum planning, progression and subject leadership can help schools feel prepared.
