Tom Bigglestone

I first discovered debating in Religious Studies lessons at secondary school and have had the bug ever since.

I went onto a degree in Philosophy at Durham - relishing the opportunities to debate in seminar - and remained there to completed by teacher-training in RS.

I began my teaching career in Staffordshire as Head of Humanities and have since taught a range of subjects at three London senior schools - with debating as a common theme!

Helping colleagues incorporate more debating was also a key objective when I sat on the Senior Academic Management Team at Channing School, as Co-ordinator for the More Able.

Whilst at Channing, the opportunity arose to launch a curriculum of philosophy and debating for children. I jumped at the chance and have never looked back. As part of this, I was awarded the prestigious Walter Hines-Page Scholarship by the English Speaking Union. I chose to research methods of assessment of philosophical and debating skills through visiting schools and universities in New York state.

I've had articles published in leading Headteachers' publications, and I was honoured when the UK government chose my words to lead their advice for talking to children about the war in Ukraine.

Alongside my work at Debate Planet, I work with schools every week to help them embed philosophy into their curriculums and by offering training, workshops and ongoing consultancy. I also speak at a range of events - from Heads' conferences and to training days for new teachers. I also write many of our free P4C resources which are sent out by email each week.

I've co-authored three books to date, including Thinking Moves A-Z - a game-changing approach to metacognition written with Roger Sutcliffe and Jason Buckley.

I have also worked at the Economist Educational Foundation, supporting schools to develop students' news literacy and encourage debates about current affairs.

I’m also Director of school team-building and character-development company Hidden Leaders, and lead many of the debating elements of our days.

In my spare time, I can usually be found engaging in sport or training for some kind of endurance event, or writing my debut children's novel.