P4C: Activities about teamwork

Dear Tom,

This week, activities exploring teamwork developed by Tim Harrison from Rosemead Prep, details of a Virtual CPD Day on November 17th and SAPERE’s face-to-face/online conference where Jason is keynoting on November 18th.

Tim approached me at lunchtime during a recent INSET day to chat about applying P4C questions and activities to Physical Education (PE). He fleshed out our ideas during the afternoon session which was given over to planning P4C into he curriculum. Hereโ€™s his โ€œmatch reportโ€ – full of brilliant ideas for anyone teaching sport or PE. For those outside the UK, Year 6s are 10-11 years old. 

“Hi Tom,

Tim from Rosemead here, I talked to you at the start of the term about using your techniques in PE to help my sports teams be more harmonious and make PE enjoyable for everyone.

I thought I’d contact you with some feedback about the recent lesson that I’ve done with our Year 6s in the hope that it might help you and others in the future.

I had a football match with them the day before, which turned a bit fractious, and I felt the need to address it pretty quickly. So I asked the Year 6 teachers if I could steal an upcoming lesson.

The objective was to explore what makes a good team-mate. 


To begin with, they jotted down what they thought makes good team-mates.

We then played a group version of Snap – each called out what they had and others clapped if they had the same thing. We came up with 8 and wrote them on the board. I put the children into small groups and each group created a set of 8 cards, one idea on each card. I asked them to work together to create a ladder – ranking the cards from most important to least. 

It was really interesting to see that the big personalities in the class initially were the ones to move things around. Then the quieter, more thoughtful ones would change things, and with a little prompting say why. One of them even told a more confident boy, who was talking over her, to pipe down – to the delight of the rest!

I stood at the back and didn’t join in and it was really quite eye opening. I did a “hands on heads for yes, hands on tails for no” vote on whether they thought they had a voice in the discussions – I was pleased that the majority said yes.”

To follow this, I wanted to also help them explore the role of captains. We did a “Vote with Your Feet” on what’s most important in a captain, with four ideas in different corners of the room:


– Win at all costs
– Must be the best player
– Encourage your team mates
– Direct your team verbally

This again was really interesting and sparked a fascinating discussion! Thank you for working with me on this – all the techniques and things that you taught us on the training worked at absolute treat.”

A big thank you to Tim, not only for the idea and feedback but also giving us permission to share it with our community of P4Cers. 

Of the many things that stood out for me, one is the importance of the “Objection Round” – something I’m using more and more in my own practice. That is, to explicitly give permission for any child, particularly the quieter ones, to announce what they disagree with, and providing suggestions for how they might do it – e.g. “Actually….” or “I’ve been thinking…”

We’re always keen to hear “match-reports” of sessions you’ve run, as well as any questions to help you troubleshoot. Please do email us – we read and reply to everything. 

Keen to get some P4C training, but can’t get us into school?

Here’s your chance to book onto our next online day for individuals on November 17th. Places are limited to ensure the highest quality experience for all. It’s a full-day (with plenty of screen-breaks) of top-notch CPD for only ยฃ100+VAT. Download the flier here (also attached).

Book my place

Looking to develop even further by attending a P4C conference?

On 18th November, SAPERE are hosting a conference in Bristol and online. We went last year and there were lots of interesting workshops and speakers. Itโ€™s a real โ€œgathering of the clanโ€ for philosophy with children from across the UK. This year, Jason is doing the final keynote session, full of practical ideas for fitting more philosophy into the school week and finding the deep questions on offer within your existing curriculum. To get your ticket, head to www.sapere.org.uk/conference-2023/ and use the promo code SAP-PHILMAN-25 to get ยฃ25 off. 

Best wishes,

Tom and Jason

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