Wellington School Pupils win Pioneering Philosothon

23 Feb 2016

The Wellington School Philosophy Team came first at a National Philosothon.

Philosothon is a seriously academic philosophy competition judged by leading Professors and lecturers in philosophy. The idea is new to the UK and was born in Australia in 2007.

The third ever National Philosothon was held at King’s College, Taunton with a large number of participating schools from around the country.
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The team, which spanned Year 9 to Year 13, consisted of Hamish Hunter, Lucas Thwaites, Lizzie Fanshawe, Georgie Simms, Edmund Tallach, Isabel Colman, Kieran Maye, Lucy Hemming, Freddie Renyard, Sophie Bennett and Ed Wilson.

The team were given a number of philosophical questions which they had to discuss whilst being judged by teams of eminent philosophers. The Wellington team were judged by Professor Spicer, Lecturer in Philosophy from Bristol University, to be the best team there has ever been – a worthy accolade!

Philosothons encourage students to investigate complex philosophical and ethical questions. In the process of preparing and participating in Philosothons, students have the opportunity to develop higher order thinking and communication skills.
“Philosophy teaches us to argue a case more forcefully, to express thoughts better, and also to be more flexible and creative in our approach to the problems that face us in our work or our daily lives”, commented Katja Sass, Wellington School’s Head of RE and team coach.
“This was a wonderful evening for all concerned – the team performed brilliantly and did themselves credit. It was a moment of great pride to win this beautiful trophy of Rodin’s ‘Thinker’, which we will keep for a year,” concluded Miss Sass.