Category: News

  1. Pandemic Pack

    Posted on by Dot Lenton in News Comments Off on Pandemic Pack

    Everything has its upside.

    During this pandemic Barbara and I have been working on our training pack. Nothing compares with going into schools and working with real people, but during this enforced interval, planning and thinking together to expand the pack has been an exciting challenge for us.

    The pack is full of lots of useful ideas and tips. There are links to challenging and interesting clips from YouTube as well as suggestions from the world of art, and stories that you can use in the classroom.

    It will take you step by step through the method we use in teaching a philosophical enquiry, as well as giving you background into the history of our work in schools.

    Watch this space for its arrival!

  2. Exploring the Paston Treasure

    Posted on by Dot Lenton in News Comments Off on Exploring the Paston Treasure

    An unusual context for philosophy4children – looking at a specific painting that had been commissioned by the famous Paston family of Norfolk depicting an apparent collage of treasures that they had collected over the years. But it included the picture of a child among the silver plate and jewels. What did the family wish to portray? What was their rationale?

    It proved to be an intriguing look into the world of a family that left a legacy of some of the first letters written in English from the fifteenth century. The teachers who attended were from different schools in Norfolk. The workshop was part of the Paston Footprints three-year project which aims to introduce more and more people, including children, to the fascinating Paston story.

    For more information on the project, click here.

  4. Thanks…

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on Thanks…

    This thank you note was received from the head teacher of a school we’ve just worked with:

    “Thank you for your and for delivering such a good day’s training. The feedback from staff has been most positive and it has certainly got staff trying out some of the concepts you demonstrated.”

  5. Happy New Year!

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on Happy New Year!

    A new year, a new term and new training days!

    Working with a school near Reading with an enthusiastic staff group of 46 got the school year off to a good start “Incredibly thought provoking…”.

    “Calm, engaging, thoughtfully composed.”

    For some Philosophy for Children was entirely new whereas for other staff it gave them tools to add to their existing way of teaching; “Interesting because it linked so many of the methods I use in History and PHSE and gave me some more ideas and how to develop them…”

    “I would like to take this much further”

     

     

  6. A real school community

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on A real school community

    It was lovely to spend a training session in a very small rural school working with an enthusiastic group of staff. One of the special things about small schools is that everyone gets involved – so the training included teachers, TAs, lunchtime supervisors, governors and the vicar – a real school community. Here’s some feedback:

    Presentation Fantastic, clear and structured so that the adults learnt how to run sessions.

    Content Brilliant! Really good demonstrations of how this is applied and how to gear it towards the children.

    Was the session useful? Absolutely. Clear demonstrations of useful tasks, further discussions… Useful for school, at home, as a parent and in everyday life.

  7. A positive response!

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on A positive response!

    Thankfully the snows cleared last week and we were able to travel to Barry and deliver p4c training to a very enthusiastic group of teachers from two schools… we had this feedback, seems everyone is loving it!

    “Thank you so much for a wonderful day last Monday.

    I’m thrilled to say, lots of staff have trialed the lessons last week and we have had a hugely positive response!”

  8. Much more confident!

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on Much more confident!

    It’s often difficult, as a teacher, to join a school where p4c is being used without having experience of it yourself. We were joined in Wales on Monday by several teachers for whom this is the case… they found the training really helpful:

    Was the session useful? “Very, will implement it now with a good understanding. P4C is already used however I always feel that due to no training that I am not doing it correctly. Much more confident now! Thanks.”

    “The two leaders are knowledgeable and experienced and gave real life examples. The course had theory and practical that consolidated the process. A very useful session that gave real life examples of how it all works.”

  9. Made welcome in Wales

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on Made welcome in Wales

    In spite of a very cold night in a Welsh hotel where the boiler had broken so there was no central heating, we had a fantastic time the next day working with a staff group who use Mantle of the Expert with children throughout the school. We used Mantle in our South Norfolk school, so it was exciting to be in a school so enthused by this method.

    We spent a full day delivering philosophy for children training and the staff took to it so easily.

    “Perfect. Just enough information to stay focused. Enjoyed that we actually did the warm up activities and the enquiry.”

    “Very helpful, very informative and relevant to our school ethos and structure.”

    “Clear and informative, lots of opportunities for questions and discussion. Easy to see how it will compliment Mantle.”