We will be working with OPAL to further improve opportunities for physical activity, socialisation, cooperation, coordination, resilience, creativity, imagination and enjoyment through play at breaktime and lunchtime.
We are committed to ensuring that quality play opportunities are available to all our children as we believe that play is essential for the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual development of each child. Most of our best childhood memories are from playing outdoors, climbing trees and exploring the wide world around us. OPAL gives our school the opportunity to provide memories for your children.
OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) is all about using natural and man-made resources to allow children to be inspired and creative at playtime. It is based on the idea that, as well as learning through good teaching, your children also learn when they play. As 20% of their time in school is playtime, we want to make sure that their breaktime and lunchtime, which is equivalent to 1.4 years of primary school, is as inspiring as possible.
The Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) Primary Programme is the result of more than 20 years of testing and development in over 800 schools and has been used in Spain, Canada, France and New Zealand. The programme has also been adapted and used in schools in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Austria under the Play Friendly Schools project. In 2018, OPAL won first prize in an EU-funded award for the best active schools programme in Europe and two UK national playwork awards. In 2019, OPAL was awarded a quarter of a million pounds by Sport England to bring the programme to many more schools.
There are many proven benefits for schools that follow the OPAL Primary Programme, including more enjoyment of school, less teaching time lost to disputes between children, fewer accidents and greatly improved behaviour. Play is not messing about, it is the process that evolution has come up with to enable children to learn all of the things that cannot be taught, while also having fun.
Benefits to the OPAL programme include:
- Improving playtimes for all children, meaning happier children who can come into the classroom ready to learn.
- Improving our play spaces across the school, making the most of our wonderful site and ensuring a fully inclusive play offer.
- Developing our school value,s encouraging children to be creative, resilient, independent and collaborative whilst respecting those around them.
- Improving behaviour at playtimes.
- It’s fun!
This is an 18-24 month programme which we will be starting in Summer 2025. We are really looking forward to new play experiences and the opportunity to provide wonderful enhanced play for our children.
ST. JOHN’S WISH LIST
This is a list of the small items that we need and will, over time, need to be replaced as they are used/broken. Donations of these items will be taken on an ongoing basis.
This is our more expensive wishlist. The children are currently writing to large companies to ask for donations. Our first target is £10 000. If you know any companies or grants that we could apply for, please contact Mrs. Poynton or Mr. Redfern.