P4C Philosophy for Children
At Ashbrow School, children are learning to take part in philosophical enquiries. Each half term, children focus on a particular concept that inspires the topic of discussion, which is then led by the facilitator, who is usually the teacher. Children are encouraged to share their own opinion and listen to the opinions of others whilst agreeing, supporting, disagreeing and challenging one another. Some examples of concepts explored are freedom, knowledge, power and bravery. Children quite often refer to their P4C session as a thinking lesson where they think individually to understand a concept better.
We are a P4C Silver Award School!
The SAPERE P4C Silver Award recognises that P4C is a regular part of teaching and learning within a school. Children in the school demonstrate familiarity with philosophical concepts and questions while teachers are beginning to integrate planning and reviewing P4C across the curriculum.
In assessing a school for the Silver Award, we progress is reviewed in the following areas:
Pupils: How well are they doing P4C?
- building a Community of Philosophical Enquiry
- questioning
- development of philosophical thinking
- review and evaluation
Teachers: How well are they developing their P4C skills?
- classroom practice
- facilitation skills
- planning
- P4C leadership
- review and evaluation
How well is P4C supported across the school?
- headteacher and senior leadership team commitment
- level of whole school training
- involving the whole school
- review and evaluation
