OPAL is an award-winning school improvement programme that focuses on non-curricular play. It supports sustainable cultural change within schools, to transform the quality of their playtime. This has huge benefits for children and adults. At our school, we are passionate to ensure that our outdoor play offer is as vibrant, creative and innovative as out academic curriculum. Consequently, we use the OPAL offer to ensure every pupil has an amazing period of high quality play every day!
We feel play is fundamental to the physical and mental well-being of children. We plan for, resource and evaluate the quality of play provision as if it were an important human right, essential to all aspects of children’s development and a source of joy and happiness that every child can access because it is all of these things.
What is OPAL?
This project aims to improve opportunities for physical activity, socialisation, co-operation, coordination, resilience, creativity, imagination and enjoyment through improved play.
The OPAL Outdoor Play and Learning Programme is the result of 17 years of testing and development in over 250 schools and is now used in Canada and New Zealand as well as across the UK. Work has started to adapt the programme for schools in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Austria. In 2018 OPAL won first prize in an EU funded award for the best active school’s programme in Europe.
It is based on the idea that as well as learning through good teaching, your children also learn when they play, and as 20% of their time in school is playtime, we want to make sure that this amount of time (equivalent to 1.4 years of primary school) is as good as possible.
For more information, please visit the OPAL website:
https://outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk/
The benefits of play
Children learn through their play.
Don’t underestimate the value of play. Children learn and develop:
– cognitive skills – like math and problem solving in a pretend grocery store
– physical abilities – like balancing blocks and running on the playground
– new vocabulary – like the words they need to play with toy dinosaurs
– social skills – like playing together in a pretend car wash
– literacy skills – like creating a menu for a pretend restaurant
Play is healthy.
Play helps children grow strong and healthy. It also counteracts obesity issues facing many children today.
Play reduces stress.
Play helps your children grow emotionally. It is joyful and provides an outlet for anxiety and stress.
Play is more than meets the eye.
Play is simple and complex. There are many types of play: symbolic, sociodramatic, functional, and games with rules-–to name just a few. Researchers study play’s many aspects: how children learn through play, how outdoor play impacts children’s health, the effects of screen time on play, to the need for recess in the school day.
Play is a child’s context for learning.
Children practice and reinforce their learning in multiple areas during play. It gives them a place and a time for learning that cannot be achieved through completing a worksheet. For example, in playing restaurant, children write and draw menus, set prices, take orders, and make out checks. Play provides rich learning opportunities and leads to children’s success and self-esteem.
How can you help?
Play is not messing about. It is the process evolution has come up with to enable children to learn all of the things that cannot be taught, while also feeling like it is fun. There are certain things children must have in order to be able to play. These include:
– Having clothes that you can play in
– Having things to play with
– Having a certain amount of freedom
As the school improves play opportunities for your children, you may find the school is asking you for resources and is making changes about how the children use the school grounds. They may use more of the grounds, for more of the year. Your children may get a bit messier, be exposed to more challenges and have greater freedoms to play where, with whom and how they like. The experiences the school is fostering are essential for children’s physical and mental well-being and healthy and in line with all current good practice advice on health safety, well-being and development.
What the OPAL program involves
-Diverse play resources: OPAL schools offer a wide range of natural and man-made resources for play, such as sandpits, mud kitchens, digging areas, hoops, balls, tyres, and planks.
-Strategic planning: It is a mentor-supported, year-long program that addresses 18 areas of school grounds and policy to improve playtime.
-Empowering children: The program encourages children to use their imagination, build things, and manage risks, leading to more fulfilling play experiences.
Benefits for children
-Improved well-being: Children become happier and healthier through more active and creative play.
-Enhanced physical development: Play builds stronger muscles and bones, improves coordination, and develops motor skills.
-Increased self-regulation: Children learn to manage their emotions, behaviours, and physical activity levels.
-Greater social skills: Imaginative and collaborative play fosters social and emotional development.
-Reduced accidents: By teaching children how to manage risk, schools see fewer accidents during playtimes.
Benefits for the school
-Positive school environment: Happier and healthier children lead to a more positive attitude towards learning.
-Less time on disputes: More engaging playtimes mean less time spent by staff resolving behavioural issues.
-Reduced accidents: Schools experience a significant decrease in reported accidents, according to some sources.