Foundations for success
UK Intermediates Conferences
Inspire Ambition, Age 12-14
Big ideas for curious minds
2023
UK
About
What to expect on the day
This study day offers a unique provision for academically gifted students.
The aim of this study day is to help curious and ambitious students to:
- Improve their thinking skills
- Begin to be able to identify what is fundamental from what is trivial
- Become intellectually creative
- Identify assumptions and distinguish between good and poor arguments
- Think systematically and rigorously about relevant modern day issues
Join us on Snapchat – aconferences – for your daily philosophical thought of the day, plus access to free resources.
Programme
Session 1: An Introduction to Quantum Mechanics
All matter has a quantum level. Starting with the atom this session will take students down into the quantum world. Wave/particle duality and the double slit experiment will be explained as well as non-locality, superposition and quantum entanglement. Probability rules and the thought experiment of Shrödinger’s cat will also be explored so that students grasp the basic findings of life at the quantum level.
Session 2: Guided Community of Inquiry. Celery Munchers vs Steak Stokers. Is Diet a free choice?
Are you a herbivore or an omnivore, or maybe a carnivore (?!) and it is a free choice? While Descartes did not argue, ‘I think, therefore I am vegetarian,’ others do, so, what are the arguments for vegetarianism and is it a free choice? Eastern traditions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, have a long history of vegetarianism, with up to 85% of the people in India practicing vegetarianism. Modern day ‘Vegetarian Philosophy’ tends to argue that there are ‘consumption ethics’ now that there are readily available alternatives to meat. But what do you think? Members of the team are encouraged to make quality contributions, but also to help others to contribute. There will be a member of staff facilitating the discussion before a shared plenary. Issues arising will include reflection on what defines personal identity, and the implications for human cloning.
Session 3: Justice Truth and Beauty
Punishment is widely accepted and practiced to achieve ‘justice’. Children, adults, institutions and even whole countries can be punished in the name of ‘justice’. But what is justice and does it exist? This session will explore the difficulties of achieving agreement about justice and ask what is the point of punishment, and what is it supposed to achieve? Contemporary examples will be used to illuminate the complexity of the philosophical issues and how we think about other areas of human knowledge, such as beauty mathematics and art.
The BIG Debate:
This house believes that Freewill is an illusion
Are we the product of our genetics, our upbringing and the things that have happened to us along the way, or can we steer our own path? Students will experience a live debate and be encouraged to contribute and to vote. This is a vibrant session and gives an opportunity for the development of a quite different set of analytical and evaluative skills. The debate will conclude with a vote.
Speakers
Julie Arliss
A Farmington Scholar at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, Julie Arliss is a highly accomplished teacher and author. Julie Arliss is a well-known international educator of gifted students with a gift for making the complex simple, and the simple complex. She is committed to the provision of world-class extension activities for these students, to extend their reach well beyond the curriculum to new areas of knowledge. She is on the examining team for Cambridge International Examinations and founder of Academy Learning.
Tour Dates and Venues
Altrincham
Tuesday 7 March
North Cestrian School
Greater Manchester
SOLD OUT
Caterham
Monday 13 March
Woldingham School
Surrey
Crawley
Friday 17 March
Oriel High School
East Sussex
SOLD OUT
Redditch
Thursday 23 March
Arrow Vale Secondary School
Worcestershire
Cobham
Thursday 20 April
Notre Dame School
Surrey
SOLD OUT
Upper Dicker, Wealden
Monday 24 April
Bedes Senior School
East Sussex
Chester
Tuesday 20 June
Chester Schools Together
SOLD OUT
Hillingdon
Tuesday 10 October
Bishopsalt School
Middlesex
Barnstaple
Thursday 12 October
West Buckland School
Devon
Perry Barr
Wednesday 18 October
Broadway Academy Trust
Birmingham
Additional dates available on request
Booking
Conference Fees
Students
A fixed fee of £35 each
We have access to sponsorship for students wishing to attend but for whom the cost is a significant challenge for their families. Please contact us for further details.
Staff
A fixed fee of £35 each
One free staff place with every 12 students booked.
Unaccompanied teachers attending for their own CPD to pay £220.
Please Note
These events fill quickly but we appreciate that many schools need time to collect money from students.
Booking Places at a Conference
Bookings for a conference are usually made by a teacher or other representative from a school, and students attend conference with their school group accompanied by a supervising teacher. The school is invoiced for the number of students and staff attending (if schools require payment from students or parents for attendance, these payments are made to the school).
Please note that we cannot accept bookings for unaccompanied students, and all students attending are required have a supervising teacher, or parent, with them. This is a workplace health and safety issue, as we do not have the necessary staff to provide supervision of students at the conference, or during meal breaks. [If a school is not attending, and a student from that school wishes to attend independently, they can do so, but they must be accompanied by a supervising adult who is charged at the same rate as the student, and who makes the booking on behalf of the student. A supervising adult can be a parent or other responsible person over 18. The school or parent must give permission for the student to be absent from school on that day]
ARRIVAL AND REGISTRATION
Arrival and registration: 9:00
Welcome 9:15
First lecture 9:30