At Kempshott Infant school, we are developing the Philosophy for Children (P4C) approach to teaching and learning, to help children to develop into effective, critical and creative thinkers and to take responsibility for their own learning in a caring and collaborative way. We do this by providing practical ways of developing good thinking, questioning and communications skills.

During P4C sessions, children and their teacher share a stimulus, for example, a story, film clip, picture.

The aim is to develop the children’s skills of

• Asking questions
• Active listening
• Giving reasons
• Making connections

With experience, children’s questions get deeper and more thoughtful. The children’s discussions become more disciplined and focused yet, at the same time, more imaginative.

We find this approach helps to develop creative and critical thinking skills encourages children to care more about what others say to develop the ability to recognise differences

to explore their differences collaboratively.

This supports the schools ethos and values of creating a caring school and classroom environment where children learn to listen to and respect each other.

Often, P4C is linked to a particular topic area or curriculum subject, particularly in English, PDL or RE.

There is the opportunity to make links between matters of personal concern such as

• Growing up
• Friendship
• Bullying and fairness
• Change
• Right and wrong

P4C helps to create an environment where a child’s questioning can flourish, developing children’s abilities to ask their own thoughtful questions.

If you are interested in finding out more about P4C, please go to http://www.sapere.org.uk