Philosophy Explorers

Age 6 to 8

A mix of fun, brain stretching games, stories and discussions that will build confidence and thinking skills and introduce some weird and wonderful questions from the world of philosophy. Rather than having a fixed programme, each block is improvised in response to suggestions within an ongoing story. Last term we were timetravelling, helping Charles Darwin decide whether to share his theory with the world, negotiating a peace treaty and rescuing a bewildered cat from a fountain of liquid time! This block, one group of Explorers have been on board ship and another have been piloting a hot air balloon...

P4HE

Age 9 to 12, 13+

Philosophy for Home Education.  These live, online sessions combine lively, fun dialogue that helps children connect to one another, with opportunities for deep thinking and disagreement about juicy, debatable questions. How much can you change a picture before it becomes a lie? Do slugs deserve to eat? While you are silent, does your voice still exist? Is maths invented or discovered? Is the hole in a donut part of the donut?

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Themes for the first block of 2022 have been Driverless Cars, The Ethics of Farting, Apologies, Natural Beauty, AI & Art and Wishes. 

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Also available in CAMERAS OFF format where a very lively conversation occurs via chat, and Jason's brain comes close to exploding as the ideas spark new questions and new ideas.

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Chatterboxes

Age 6 to 8

We've been looking at how to bring the fun of our improv and debating workshops to a younger age group, and we're pleased to announce the arrival of Chatterboxes. Whereas Philosophy Explorers features an ongoing story with the emphasis on juicy, interesting questions, Chatterboxes is more game-based, drawing on activities from the worlds of improv, debating and role-playing, all tweaked with this age group in mind. Lots of fun and silliness, but all in the serious cause of creating confident speakers and performers who are happy to share their imaginations with others.

Debate Wranglers

Age 9 to 11, 12+

The same friendly argy-bargy asthe daytime debate club, but at a time that is friendly for UK schoolschoolers and US homeschoolers as well. A very friendly place for bright youngsters who are a bit bored at school and who know our residentials over at GIFT.

P4HE Improv Club

Age 9 to 12, 13+

Improv is one of the best ways to develop your creativity and performance skills. Every week in improv is a chance for new stories, games and characters. So you get the chance to be lots of different people as well as yourself! 

Sessions are taught by professional actor and improviser Charlie Sturgeon.

P4HE Debate Club

Age 9 to 12, 13+

These sessions have proved to be very popular. They develop the same skills as traditional competition debating but in a faster-paced, more lively format.

 Whether you already love a good argument, or would like to be confident in getting your voice out there, this course is the place to build your skills. We have created the world's largest compendium of debate motions (over 1500 at the last count) and each week we have a mixture of silly and serious conversations, with some people who have planned what they are going to say and some who are making it up as they go along.

We have a lot of fun, and each week you can see the participants growing in their ability to think on their feet, express themselves clearly and hold the attention of an audience.

Improv Wranglers

Age 9 to 11, 12+

The same enjoyable make-em-ups as the daytime improv club, but at a time that is friendly for UK schoolschoolers and US homeschoolers as well. A very friendly place for bright youngsters who are a bit bored at school and who know our residentials over at GIFT.

Introduction to Philosophy

Age 9 to 10

This course is especially for younger philosophers aged 9-10 including those who have been Philosophy Explorers. It features some of our favourite, most accessible philosophy sessions from the last four years, and is a great way to get a feel for philosophy before joining one of the 9-12s classes. Each week, we’ll explore a theme from a different area of philosophy, and over the course of a block or two of classes you’ll really get the hang of philosophical discussion and be all the more ready to dive in to one of our other sessions, or we might keep going in this time slot and set up another Introduction course.

Philosophy Wranglers

Age 9 to 11, 12+

The same philosophy syllabus as P4HE, but at a time that is friendly for UK schoolschoolers and US homeschoolers as well. A very friendly place for bright youngsters who are a bit bored at school and who know our residentials over at GIFT.