P4C INSET

The value of P4C has never been higher.

The last few years have seen a pandemic and several years of government making nothing easier and many things harder for schools.

But the importance of independent thinking, children finding their voice, and listening to each other when they do, will never change.

You probably know P4C is proven to make an impact in all of these areas, but...

You have tried it in the past, but traditional stand-alone sessions won't fit an already crowded curriculum
You've had training before but there's been a fair bit of staff turnover
Teachers are wary of taking on “yet another thing”, whatever it is!

So how can you support colleagues to make it work within your existing curriculum?

Philosophy Circles Workshops and In-School Training

Now there is an easier way to make the most of P4C in your school, without having to change your timetable. Why not begin our training pathway - designed to embed P4C into your existing curriculum and across your school.

We partner schools through INSET days and in-school demonstration workshops, with twilight INSET on top. Everything is built around the three principles of Philosophy Circles and how to easily put them into action. It includes mini-books for all staff and topic-based session plans and other resources that will allow your school to embed philosophy across all year groups.

Everything is tailored for your school and there's something for every budget.

Outside the UK?

We work with schools across the world - visit our special page for international schools.

Learn more

Help children find their voices

More and more children arrive in reception scarcely talking at all. And demands from government are squeezing out valuable talk-time from the school day.

"Technoference" seems here to stay. Parents distracted by social media speak less to their children, and children who use devices are less likely to talk to their parents. And the impact is growing: in one school we worked with, children joining reception completely nonverbal recently rose from five, to half to the class.

You'll learn how to overcome the different obstacles children have to speaking, and get (almost) every child talking, including strategies like:

Playground Confident, Classroom Shy - how to empower children who clam up in the classroom
Unwrongification - how to free children from the fear of getting it wrong
Small Talk Big Talk - how to keep them talking while raising the stakes

Jason working with children in South Africa

Before the training, I didn't have any knowledge to the depths P4C could go with children's thinking.

Before the training, I wasn't familiar with the concept of the sessions and what each session could help the children achieve. I didn't have any knowledge to the depths P4C could go with children's thinking.

The training was brilliant. I really enjoyed taking part in the activities, as they gave you a good insight in the potential outcomes and focuses throughout a session. The training provided and explained a variety of stimuli and games, which fed into discussing the structure of a P4C session. The training allowed the adult to step into a child's shoes when taking part in an activity and this enabled us to gain a clear understanding and experience of how a child might feel and what they might be thinking in certain situations, especially if they are unfamiliar to inquiries.

Our school have allocated slots during teacher's planning time, where we carry out P4C across the school (EY's-KS2). We use many of the resources that were provided on the training and resources sent via email to assist our teaching. We have generated displays and scrap books to display the children's work, discussions, stimuli and photos of the sessions.

The continuous support through email is brilliant and is helping massively.

Karla Fogarty

Holy Cross CEVA Primary School

Practical for Teachers

Learn how planning less and letting the questions do the work fosters greater independence and faster progress.

During the course, teachers can see how easy it is to embed P4C, and immediately give it a go themselves.

Dozens of ready-to-use activities your staff can can adapt for any context
Simple, memorable principles that connect with your teachers' values
Tailored resources designed for the EYFS so all teachers buy into the approach

"Never have I been on a whole day's training in which the hours actually fly by too quickly. I cannot recommend this p4c training highly enough!"

I really liked the fact that it was so interactive with constant practical examples - actually doing things and feeling what the activities feel like and what they bring out in terms of thinking. It was great fun too and very inspiring. In fact I couldn't believe how quickly the whole day went - it flew by because it was so interesting, fun and inspiring. I am a huge fan of P4C and I think your Philosophy Circles approach is not only beautifully simple but beautifully effective too.

Jason and Tom deliver a totally wonderful day's experience of Philosophy Circles and I say 'experience' because the course is packed full of practical activities - inspiring ideas which are shared and experimented with in an atmosphere of co-creative fun. Never have I been on a whole day's training in which the hours actually fly by too quickly - I am greedy for more! The Philosophy Circles approach makes the inclusion of a philosophical dimension into everyday teaching easy, flexible and totally possible without being a burden in terms of preparation, planning or time management of the curriculum. It can be incorporated into virtually any topic or subject, can be slotted in, take main stage or sit there waiting in the wings for those impromptu moments. Learning how to apply the Philosophy Circles approach is key. Mind-expanding and so much fun - Jason and Tom will give you the tools to put Philosophy Circles into action immediately. I cannot recommend this p4c training highly enough.

Rachel Hutchings

Advisory Teacher, Kent County Council

Keen to find out how we can work with your school?

Ready-to-use resources

Lots of ideas from INSET sound great on the day but never see the light of day. New initiatives often get buried under the hectic pace of day to day teaching.

To avoid that...

Philosophy Circles and Thinkers' Games minibooks
Session-plans covering the curriculum - so P4C can be embedded within teachers' existing lessons
100 Spot and Stripe videos, assessment tools, how-to guides and a wealth of other supporting materials

"The mini resource booklets are great too as they are concise and clear..."

These resources inspire and instigate current discussions with the children which can occur in many curriculum areas. The mini resource booklets are great too as they are concise and clear. The resources are practical, effective and require very little preparation- which is great!

Though we have separate P4C sessions, we have easily and seamlessly begun to use it in other curriculum areas.

Kayleigh Dell

Greenway Primary School, Hertfordshire

How much will training cost?

Everything we do is bespoke for each school. For the deepest impact, most schools choose a day of P4C training plus at least one workshop day where teachers observe us with their classes. All prices are +VAT and reasonable expenses.

Half days begin at £700+VAT, and full days begin at £1000+VAT.

There's lots of ways to do something within your budget. MATs and clusters often join together for a day to reduce costs and promote collaboration between schools.

Feedback from our recent P4C training:

"I cannot describe the buzz and vibe from the staff, all down to you."

"You really did create a huge buzz in school, which is a difficult shout on the first day back! You covered everything we wanted out of the training and gave us mountains of material to use in class. I loved the fact you gave each phase some planning time to discuss ideas and plan sessions and then trial them out of colleagues. You have definitely given us some inspiration and I am very excited to see what happens next."

"There was a buzz during the staff meeting, which for any member of staff attending a staff meeting knows this is a rare thing! All the staff said how enthused and excited they felt to get back into their classrooms and try out the methods they had been shown."

"The questions raised interested everyone and there was a real buzz in the room. Our training was full of practical activities and games, with the just the right amount of discussion about teaching techniques interspersed. What an inspiring day!"

"It is us who would like to thank you. It was such an inspirational INSET and the staff were truly excited. Several of us have run introductory sessions with the children and although it is early days the enthusiasm is palpable."

Interested in booking P4C training? Send us a quick message with your contact details below and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.