On 8th August Nayland College hosted 160 Year 7–10 students from 22 schools across the Nelson- Marlborough region for an amazing day of philosophy, ethics, and debate.

The event was run in conjunction with the Ministry of Inspiration and was presented by Julie Arliss from the United Kingdom who works in close association with Oxford and Exeter Universities.

The aim of the day was to help students to improve their thinking skills, to begin to be able to identify what is fundamental from what is trivial, to become intellectually creative, and to identify assumptions and distinguish between good and poor arguments. 

By the end, many challenging questions had been put forward and everyone’s brains had been given a serious work-out! As the only ‘small city’ on Julie’s Australian tour, it was fantastic to see so many students making the most of this amazing opportunity to stretch and challenge their brains. 

Julie and her team left the conference and were straight on a flight off to Brisbane.