School Events

Each year, VAPS runs school events. The are PICS (Philosophy in Classroom Spaces [incursions]) & PIPS (Philosophy in Public Spaces [excursions]).

PIPS events are run to stimulate philosophical thinking in students. Between 5 – 12 schools attend each PIPS event and bring 10 students each, then those students are mixed up into groups of 10 and placed with a facilitator. The facilitator is a member of VAPS trained in facilitating philosophical communities of inquiry.

In 2026, the Victorian Department of Education has funded VAPS to provide 100% subsidised (free) philosophy programs to students as part of the Victorian Challenge & Enrichment Series. These programs are free to all Victorian government school students. These events include our PIPS events (excursions), and newly created PICS events (incursions).

PIPS events run in locations of cultural significance whereby we have access to thought provoking material.

Students observe a chosen stimulus (artwork, exhibition, show) with their mixed-school group and facilitator, before beginning a philosophical discussion about the ‘big ideas’ present in their stimulus to begin their community of inquiry discussion. The facilitator guides students towards philosophical questioning and thought processes, however the topic is chosen by the students themselves based on the ideas that the stimulus provoked in them.