Philosophy lessons for primary pupils

And can a five-year-old really be expected to grasp the thorny issues of modern philosophy?

Paul Jackson, co-head teacher of one of London's top primary schools thinks so. He has introduced a philosophy course for pupils at Gallions Primary in Beckton, who range from nursery age to 11, and believes it is helping improve both results and behaviour.

The school, which is rated " outstanding" by education watchdog Ofsted, is so delighted by the results of Philosophy for Children, which it teaches in place of citizenship lessons, that it is now selling teaching materials to other schools.

Mr Jackson, one of the school's two headteachers, said: "Gallions opened in 1999 on a new estate in the East End, with all the problems that an inner-London estate brings with it. Virtually everyone that came here had some kind of emotional or behavioural difficulty." He said that some pupils' "natural way" of dealing with an argument in the playground was "to thump each other", while others lacked self-confidence. The school brought in a consultant trained in "facilitating"-philosophical discussions with children. That proved so successful that the school has now hired a dedicated "philosophy for children" teacher, Lisa Naylor. She said: "I have witnessed children who barely spoke English and children who had very little self-confidence debating fervently whether the sound of rain on the window was or wasn't music."

At first, Ms Naylor said it was difficult to get children with behaviour problems to talk without being aggressive towards their classmates.

But after a few months they were able to "challenge each other's ideas in an assertive and non-aggressive way" and their behaviour improved, both in the playground and the classroom.

NOW CHILDREN, WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

Questions for seven- to eight-year-olds
Why do people treat animals like slaves?

Why are there so many answers to God's questions?

Questions for 10- and 11-year-olds

Is life a journey?

Does luck exist or is it a myth?

Do we ever fully appreciate what we have?

Does beauty represent strangeness?

If life is a puzzle, does it need to be completed?

Could a religion exist that had no believers?