David Perks
retired head teacher

David was the founder of the East London Science School (ELSS), which opened in 2013. ELSS was a unique free school in Bromley-by-Bow. He was the principal until his retirement in 2021. ELSS provided an unashamedly academic curriculum for pupils and it remains the only state school in the UK to have offered all its pupils separate science GCSEs. David taught physics, philosophy, mathematics and astronomy until he retired.

David is an enthusiast for teaching philosophy in schools. Therefore, he made ethics a compulsory part of the curriculum from Year 7. This meant every child was given a taste of philosophy from implausibility of Superman to the ideas of the Ancient Greeks. One of David’s favourite lessons was introducing Year 7 to Spartan education. Debate was a key part of the ongoing education provided throughout the school, which centred on J.S. Mill’s conception of tolerance – you can say what you believe as long as you are prepared to defend your ideas to your peers. Even Ofsted inspectors were impressed with the school’s approach to ethics!

He is now running the Classical Philosophy Reading Group, which is encouraging people to read and discuss Plato’s Socratic dialogues. The group has been running for a year discussing ideas from Plato’s theory of knowledge to Socrates quest to understand the nature of virtue. The group is currently tackling Plato’s Republic, his most famous dialogue. Previous discussions are available on Classical Philosophy YouTube

David can be found on X: @dmperks1

RELATED SESSIONS

Sunday 18 October, 10:00 The Chapel, Church House
Can reading the Socratic dialogues help us navigate ethics in the age of virtue signalling?