Areas of Learning | EYFS

EYFS definition

Areas of learning are broad parts of a curriculum. In England’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), seven connected areas describe the learning and development that early years provision supports.

What are the seven EYFS areas?

The three prime areas are communication and language; physical development; and personal, social and emotional development.

The four specific areas are literacy; mathematics; understanding the world; and expressive arts and design.

Each area has an educational programme within the statutory framework. These programmes describe the curriculum’s broad scope. They are different from the early learning goals used for assessment at the end of Reception.

How do the areas connect in practice?

Children’s experiences often involve several areas together. Making a pretend café might include conversation, sharing roles, writing a menu and comparing quantities. Planting seeds can connect movement, new vocabulary, counting and learning about living things.

An adult may focus on one aspect, such as helping children explain what they notice, while recognising the other learning taking place. A resource or play area does not need to belong to just one curriculum heading.

How might practitioners use the areas?

The areas offer a shared language for discussing what children experience and learn. A team might use them to review a curriculum, choose resources or explain learning to families.

They do not prescribe seven separate daily lessons or seven identical planning boxes. Settings can organise experiences differently while considering the breadth of the curriculum and children’s individual needs.

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