The 7 Areas of Learning

What it means in practice: C&L is how children learn to listen with attention, understand what they hear, and express themselves. It's the underpinning prime — a child who can communicate can access every other area.

What strong C&L practice looks like at JLK:

• Adults kneel to eye level and hold genuine two-way conversations with individual children.
• Vocabulary is deliberately expanded through daily play — narrating, naming, extending.
• The adult holds a 5-second pause after asking a question, so the child has thinking space.
• Songs, rhymes and stories are woven through the day, not confined to a scheduled story time.
• Non-verbal children are treated as communicators — gesture, signing, pointing all count.

What weak/tokenistic C&L practice looks like:

• Adult talks at children rather than with them (constant instruction).
• Vocabulary is child-restricted rather than adult-stretched (“doggy” instead of “spaniel”).
• Test questions dominate: “what colour is that?” instead of wondering questions like “I wonder how that feels.”
• Story time is a group performance, not a shared attention moment.
• Background noise (music, TV) drowns out children's own voices.

Key adult moves: tune in · narrate · expand · pause (see Module 7).

Real statement examples from the source PDF:

• Birth to Three: “Use gestures like waving and pointing to communicate.”
• Three & Four-Year-Olds: “Understand a question or instruction that has two parts, such as 'Get your coat and wait at the door'.”
• Reception: “Articulate their ideas and thoughts in well-formed sentences.”

How this links to the JLK approach: the four JLK communication moves (tune in · narrate · expand · pause) exist because C&L is the highest-leverage area a JLK practitioner can work in. Every minute of quality C&L interaction compounds.

• I can name 3 features of strong C&L practice
• I can spot tokenistic C&L in my own recent interactions

What it means in practice: PSED is how children develop the emotional and social skills to feel secure, manage feelings, form relationships and become independent. At JLK this is where our “behaviour is communication” ethos lives.

Strong PSED practice:

• Adults co-regulate when children are dysregulated (calm voice, kneeling, mirroring).
• Emotions are named for children before they can name them themselves.
• Boundaries are held consistently, warmly, and without shame.
• Peer relationships are noticed and gently scaffolded.
• Independence is expected in small increments — pouring water, choosing snacks, putting on coats.

Weak PSED practice:

• Behaviour is treated as naughty/good rather than as communication.
• Boundaries shift based on adult mood or how loud a child is.
• Independence is talked about but rarely provisioned for (adults still put shoes on).
• Emotional moments are rushed past to keep the day moving.
• Peer conflict is resolved for children rather than with them.

Key adult moves: co-regulation · naming feelings · consistent boundaries · noticing peer moments.

Real statement examples from the source PDF:

• Birth to Three: “Find ways to calm themselves, through being calmed and comforted by their key person.”
• Three & Four-Year-Olds: “Find solutions to conflicts and rivalries. For example, accepting that not everyone can be Spider-Man in the game, and suggesting other ideas.”
• Reception: “Show resilience and perseverance in the face of challenge.”

How this links to JLK: JLK's whole approach is emotionally aware. Behaviour is not managed — it's read, and responded to. The key person system exists because relationship is the foundation of PSED work.

• I can describe co-regulation in one sentence
• I can spot the difference between managed and read behaviour

What it means in practice: PD covers gross motor (running, climbing, balancing) and fine motor (pincer grip, tools, hand control). Also self-care — dressing, feeding, toileting — and healthy habits.

Strong PD practice: daily outdoor play in all weathers · risk-benefit rather than risk-avoidance · a rich range of tools and materials for fine motor development · self-care built into every routine (children pour own water, wipe own noses when able).

Weak PD practice: outdoor time skipped when it rains · climbing frames “too dangerous” · pencil-and-paper for fine motor while ignoring rich tool work (scissors, tweezers, dough, tongs) · adults doing self-care for the child long past when the child could do it themselves.

Key adult moves: risk-benefit assessment · providing rich tools · stepping back on self-care · noticing movement schemas.

Real statement examples:

• Birth to Three: “Use large and small motor skills to do things independently, for example manage buttons and zips, and pour drinks.”
• Three & Four-Year-Olds: “Use one-handed tools and equipment, for example, making snips in paper with scissors.”
• Reception: “Develop the foundations of a handwriting style which is fast, accurate and efficient.”

• I understand risk-benefit as JLK's stance on physical challenge
• I can name 3 fine motor tools we should have in every room

What it means in practice: Literacy in early years is falling in love with books and stories, understanding print, hearing and playing with the sounds of language, and beginning to make marks that carry meaning.

Strong Literacy practice: books everywhere — cookery books in role play, reference books in construction · daily adult-to-child read-aloud in small groups · songs, rhymes and repeated language patterns · print noticed in the environment (labels, names, signs) · mark-making provisioned generously indoors and outdoors.

Weak Literacy practice: books only in the book corner · phonics drilled in isolation before children have the language to support it · “pre-writing” worksheets · reading time treated as a control moment (“sit still and listen”) rather than a shared pleasure.

Key adult moves: read with delight not duty · point out print in context · sing daily · offer varied mark-making tools · notice and celebrate emergent writing.

Real statement examples:

• Birth to Three: “Add some marks to their drawings, which they give meaning to. For example: 'That says mummy.'”
• Three & Four-Year-Olds: “Develop their phonological awareness, so that they can: spot and suggest rhymes; count or clap syllables in a word; recognise words with the same initial sound, such as money and mother.”
• Reception: “Blend sounds into words, so that they can read short words made up of known letter-sound correspondences.”

JLK approach: we don't do formal phonics before the child is ready. Sound-rich play, rhyme, robot talk and segmenting come first. Formal blending arrives when the child's oral language is strong enough to support it.

• I know why oral language must precede formal phonics

What it means in practice: Maths in early years is number sense (subitising, one-to-one correspondence, cardinal principle), shape and space, pattern, measure, and mathematical language.

Strong Maths practice: counting is everywhere — steps, cups, children present · number words are used naturally in play · patterns are noticed and extended · shape language is used precisely (“that's a triangular prism”) · comparison language woven in (“which is heavier?”).

Weak Maths practice: Maths as worksheet activity · number recognition drilled without understanding · “maths corner” separate from the rest of the room · adults use vague language (“a bit”, “some”) instead of precise number/quantity language.

Key adult moves: count out loud with genuine purpose · use precise mathematical language · notice pattern in the environment · pose small problems (“how many more do we need?”).

Real statement examples:

• Birth to Three: “React to changes of amount in a group of up to three items.”
• Three & Four-Year-Olds: “Know that the last number reached when counting a small set of objects tells you how many there are in total ('cardinal principle').”
• Reception: “Automatically recall number bonds for numbers 0-5 and some to 10.”

• I can name the cardinal principle in a sentence
• I use precise mathematical language during everyday routines

What it means in practice: UW is how children make sense of the physical world (natural and made), understand their community and past, and appreciate differences between people and places.

Strong UW practice: natural materials in the room and garden · seasonal changes noticed and talked about · role play from children's own family lives · books and images showing diverse families, communities and places · exploration of forces, materials and life cycles.

Weak UW practice: plastic-only environments · “topic weeks” on cultures that treat difference as exotic rather than everyday · nature limited to a scheduled forest school session rather than daily · adults answer “why?” questions rather than wondering alongside.

Key adult moves: wonder aloud · introduce natural materials · notice seasonal changes with children · celebrate difference as ordinary, not exotic.

Real statement examples:

• Birth to Three: “Explore natural materials, indoors and outside.”
• Three & Four-Year-Olds: “Understand the key features of the life cycle of a plant and an animal.”
• Reception: “Understand the effect of changing seasons on the natural world around them.”

• I bring natural materials into daily play, not just as a themed week

What it means in practice: EAD is about children creating with materials (paint, clay, junk, natural materials) and being imaginative (role play, storytelling, music, dance).

Strong EAD practice: the process matters more than the product · open-ended materials always available · adult joins the imaginative play sparingly and gently · music is participated in, not just played in the background · displays are children's own work, not adult-made templates.

Weak EAD practice: all children producing identical “craft” · adult finishes the picture for the child · displays that are clearly adult-made · musical instruments in a cupboard “because they get everywhere” · role play limited to a themed corner rather than woven through the day.

Key adult moves: value process over product · offer open-ended materials · join imaginative play with permission from the child · sing and dance with genuine energy.

Real statement examples:

• Birth to Three: “Explore paint, using fingers and other parts of the body as well as brushes and other tools.”
• Three & Four-Year-Olds: “Take part in simple pretend play, using an object to represent something else even though they are not similar.”
• Reception: “Create collaboratively, sharing ideas, resources and skills.”

• I display children's own work, not adult-made templates
• I let process trump product

Scenario: Aisha, a JLK Room Leader, is doing a Wednesday room audit. She walks through, pausing for 30 seconds in each zone, and asks herself: “For each of the 7 areas — what strong evidence do I see, and what's tokenistic?”

She notices:

• C&L: strong — three adults are down at child level, expanding vocabulary. Weak — the music is on louder than it needs to be, drowning out quieter children.
• PSED: strong — a peer conflict just resolved warmly with adult scaffolding. No weak spots today.
• PD: strong — outdoor space in constant use. Weak — the scissors are all locked away in the cupboard.
• Literacy: weak — books only in the book corner. Only one child is looking at one.
• Maths: mixed — snack time counting is happening naturally, but no pattern activities are visible.
• UW: strong — pumpkins from the garden are being cut open on a tray.
• EAD: weak — the display is a wall of identical adult-cut Halloween cats. No process work visible.

Aisha spends 15 minutes making three small changes: turns music off, brings scissors out onto the craft table, and takes the Halloween cats down and pins up children's actual process paintings from earlier in the week.

That's a room audit taking real work — but it moves three areas from weak to strong before lunch.

Reflection prompt: pick one area in your current room where practice is weak. What's ONE change you'll make this shift?

• I've identified one area to strengthen this shift