Philosothon

Competitive philosophy event

Schools whom have attending in the past include John Lyon, Notting Hill and Ealing High School, Pinner High School, Shrewsbury High School, South Hampstead High school, Sutton High School, Sydenham High School, Watford Grammar for Boys, Wimbledon High School, Harrow Boys Schools, Croxley Danes, Putney High, and of course, Northwood College.

Aims

To allow students to the opportunity to partake in a series of Philosophical enquiries, practice their questioning skills and hear from others from a range of different backgrounds and experiences.

Background

As a SAPERE Philosophy for Children silver awarded school, we value philosophical thinking and enquiry highly and how it can help develop thinking skills in students. 

With our students having experienced P4C throughout their educational journey, we recognised the need for them to have the opportunity to discuss and interact with others from a variety of different backgrounds, experiences and opinions.

We are now entering into our fifth year and are looking forward to this continuing into the future.

Resources

This event requires a trained staff member in philosophical enquiry for each group as well as judges. 

Judges have included Libby Ahluwalia (author of the OCR A-Level textbook), Michael Lacewing (creator of the AQA Philosophy A-Level) and Alison Allsopp (National Training manager for SAPERE). 

Pupil Involvement

All students, independent of their school, participate fully in all enquiries. A student's participation level lies solely on their confidence in speaking and expressing their ideas in a group, and their ability to construct a philosophical argument that follows on from the previous speaker. 

Each enquiry group is facilitated by a trained staff member to help guide the conversation and ensure that all students get the opportunity to participate to their desired level.

Frequency

This is an annual event.