The moment you regret...
or the moment you understand...
The moment it all changes...
That Moment
Welcome to That Moment CIC, where we believe in the power of philosophical thinking for young adults and young people outside of mainstream education and in the youth justice system.
ABOUT
Championing Critical Thinking and Ethical Reasoning
That Moment CIC has been established by Tony Clayton, former Headteacher of a Pupil Referral Unit in East London serving students aged 14 to 16 years old. Beginning teaching in the post-16 further education sector, Tony went on to accomplish over two decades in alternative education provision, working with teenage students who had been excluded from mainstream school due to a complex range of social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties. He has presented at many conferences and engaged in consultative capacities in local and national government, education, crime prevention, and the justice system.
In 2015, Tony introduced Philosophy for Children and Communities (P4C) into his curriculum and continued leading on and delivering this for the following ten years. P4C is established in hundreds of mainstream schools and a wealth of research confirms the beneficial effects for students participating in it, however it had not been successfully implemented in non-mainstream settings. Tony’s school was the first Pupil Referral Unit in the UK to receive accreditation for delivering P4C, and the only one to deliver it consistently for that length of time, developing a particular approach for the young people in question.
Witnessing first-hand the positive changes achieved for disadvantaged and marginalised young people engaging in Philosophy, Tony founded That Moment to take it into the wider community beyond statutory education.
Why That Moment?
The philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote: “…most people would die sooner than think – in fact, they do so.” This phrase has been quoted and misquoted, but applied originally to underline our collective reluctance to think analytically and to change our views; death coming to us sooner than that does.
However, in my work with marginalised teenagers, I have known some who sadly did die because they refused to think: young people who put themselves in an ultimately fatal situation where literally a moment’s thought would have changed this.
Conversely, I have also had the pleasure of engaging in philosophical dialogue with young people and witnessing a moment where someone has a personal revision of a belief they had blindly adhered to, or a trusted peer steps outside of a collective idea and remonstrates with others.
Our lives are full of moments, many of them at pivotal points, and our thinking at those times can radically alter the course of our life afterwards.
Tony Clayton
OUR SERVICES
Empowering Young Minds with Philosophy
Philosophy
Discover our unique approach to Philosophy for young people. Click here to learn more about our engaging and thought-provoking sessions.
Training
Explore our training designed to empower educators and support professionals. Click here to find out how we can help.
Consultation Services
Unlock the potential of young minds with our consultancy services. Click here to explore how we can support your organization.
Expertise in a Philosophical approach for young people
At That Moment, we are passionate about nurturing critical thinking and ethical reasoning in young minds. Applied Philosophy in this context is not subject based, ie we do not "teach Philosophy" - rather, we engage in a philosophical exploration of topics, examining our own and others' ideas in a collaborative environment.
How It Works
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Introduction and Stimulus: A session typically begins with a stimulus – a text, story, film extract, or activity – that sparks curiosity and engagement.
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Initial responses leading to primary questions: The group is asked for first reactions; the facilitator will then select and gather these responses into questions for the individuals and the group. These are questions that explore fundamental concepts and invite different perspectives.
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Enquiry: Participants engage in dialogue, sharing their thoughts, reasoning, and interpretations of the questions. The facilitator guides the discussion, encouraging deeper thinking without imposing their own views. Members will be asked to support their ideas, or at times to argue for an opposing view. This can be at its most powerful when the facilitator is able to step back and let the group run itself, even if only for brief periods.
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Reflection: At the end of the session, participants reflect on the process of enquiry, the ideas discussed, and the skills they've developed.
Given our non-mainstream focus, topics are often - though by no means exclusively - related to areas such as ethics, fate and free will, law and morality, nurture and nature, which have a direct resonance with an individual's experience. As such we try to engage, through the intellect, with the emotions behind their ideas in order to effect personal change.
Get in touch to discuss how we can specifically help your client group.
Training
Whether you work in education or an associated field dealing with marginalised young people, whether you need staff training or senior management training, we can help.
Our coaching on de-escalation, behaviour and engagement is always individually tailored to the requirements of your organisation at a specific time. Drawing on aspects of developmental and behavioural psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and a wealth of strategic communication experience, we can show you how to optimise environments and relationships, communicate in multiple domains, enlist cooperation and minimise conflict.
This is some of the response we have had to previous sessions:
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Can I just thank you for sparing the time to come and speak with us on Tuesday. It was a thoroughly useful and interesting day… MP, Safer Schools, Metropolitan Police Service
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I would just like to say a big thank you… for your time and efforts at our Network Conference. I’ve had nothing but good feedback and you all did a fantastic job. I look forward to the opportunity of working with you all again in the future. SNC, Youth Strategy, Engagement & Schools Team, MPS
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I personally took a lot from your presentation and it was great to meet you… SS, Youth Strategy, Engagement & Schools Team, MPS
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I am writing to see if I can get your support in delivering a session on managing challenging behaviour. I know you have delivered this to our Duty managers in the past and the feedback was that it was a very useful session…AB, New City College, Redbridge
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Thank you so much, Tony. The training was excellent… LC, NCC Hackney
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I just wanted to say thank you for your training session on Friday. The … staff here at Redbridge and I found it very informative and helpful. Could I visit your provision next week or at a convenient time? I would like to discuss if there is a possibility of our staff meeting each other to share good practice/ideas/ behaviour strategies…TS, NCC Redbridge
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Thank you Tony for a superb and thought-provoking session on behaviour and communication…TD, NCC Redbridge
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I just wanted to say thank you again for today and to let you know that ALL of the team have been telling me how amazing it was… NK, NCC Redbridge
We have a proven record for the provision of innovative, engaging, and above all, useful training. If you have a need in this area, please contact us to discuss how we can help.
Consultancy
More than two decades experience of working with the most challenging teenagers
Hundreds of young people directly reached through applied philosophy over the last ten years
Scores of professionals impacted in multiple organisations
As well as his own work with excluded teenagers for over twenty years, and liaising extensively with Youth Offending Service teams; drug rehabilitation; Community Policing and Safer Schools; Special Educational Needs and Children's Social Services, Tony Clayton has spoken at multiple events and worked in collaboration with numerous organisations. These have included:
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Local Government (street crime reduction)
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National Government (street crime reduction)
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The Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (Violence Reduction Unit)
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The Festival of Education
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Metropolitan Police
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Further Education Colleges
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SAPERE (now Thoughtful) - Society for Philosophical Enquiry
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PRUsAP - the National Organisation for PRUs and Alternative Providers
We are committed to making a positive impact through applied Philosophy, innovation and training. We strive to make a difference in society for learning, rehabilitation and personal development.
If you are involved in any of these areas, do get in touch to see how we may be able to help or advise.
APPRECIATION
GET IN TOUCH
Let’s Collaborate
Reach out to us to explore how we can work together to empower young minds and create positive change. We'd love to hear from you.
info@thatmomentcic.co.uk