EYFS - the principles

There are 16 principles of the EYFS, which are listed on a poster in the EYFS pack. The Principles into Practice cards give more information about them.

The EYFS says that each principle is of equal importance and all the principles need to be securely in place before we start to look after children.

Principle 1 says that we must appreciate every child as unique, ensuring we know about child development and inclusive practice and we are committed to keeping children safe and healthy.

Principle 2 talks about positive relationships, telling us to respect everyone (this links to inclusive practice) and helping us to learn how to treat parents as equal partners in their child’s learning and development. We must support children’s learning while acting as each child’s key person.

Principle 3 focuses on the environment, saying that it must be enabling i.e. every child must be able to access our home and play with our resources. While we support each child to achieve (linking again to inclusive practice) we must make sure the learning environment is appropriately set up and we use links with children’s other settings or agencies involved with the child to support them fully.

Principle 4 is, I find talking to childminders, often not understood until you get to the learning and development bit. It is about the processes children go through to learn and develop and how we can support them by enhancing their play.

The final principle, Principle 4.4 is about the 6 areas of learning and development. This seems to be the principle that most people I talk to are worried about.  I think this is partly because we have to use it when we are observing, assessing and planning for children's learning and next steps development. 

We cannot observe or plan without fully understanding what each area means and how it must be used to support children’s learning. The 6 areas are...

Personal, social and emotional development (PSED);

Communication, language and literacy (CLL);

Problem solving, reasoning and numeracy (PSR&N);

Knowledge and understanding of the world (KUW);

Physical development (PD);

Creative Development (CD).

I have recently finished e-book 27 which looks at each of these areas of learning and development in detail, because they are so important. All my e-books are available on my website.