Queen's Park CE/URC OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning)
What is OPAL?
The Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) Programme is the result of over 20 years of testing and development in over 800 schools across Europe and North America. We have now been added to the list!
Queen's Park have just started our OPAL journey with the hope to improve our school's provision for play, and improve opportunities for physical activity, socialisation, cooperation, coordination, resilience, creativity, imagination and most importantly, enjoyment!
The award-winning programme 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 this amount of time (equivalent to 1.4 years of primary school) is as good as possible.
If you would like to learn more about the OPAL Primary Programme, please have a look at the OPAL website (www.outdoorplayand
learning.org.uk), where you will find lots of useful information and several videos about the programme.
Why did we choose to become an OPAL school?
To support the development of high-quality play times, our school has invested in the OPAL programme, providing us with a tried and tested framework for improving children’s opportunities for play.
There are many proven benefits for schools that carry out the OPAL Primary Programme, but the main reason is that childhood has changed, and many children no longer get their play needs met out of school.
Research shows that children spend up to 20% or 1.4 years of their time in primary school at play. Like other core parts of the curriculum, this time needs to be coherent and planned for. Changes in society such as heavier traffic, busier lifestyles, and fewer spaces for play and concerns for children’s safety have eroded children’s opportunities for play in the public realm. This makes their play opportunities at school even more vital.
Better quality play leads to happier children and happier staff. With better quality play opportunities there are fewer accidents and a more positive attitude to school and improved skills development and learning. When children experience enriching play times, classroom learning is enhanced as the children come in from play time happy and ready to learn. We believe that play allows children to be successful both now, while at school, and will support them in their later life.
Did you know?
A child's average screen time per day is six hours.
A child's average outdoor play time per week is only five hours. This is the same as less than 1 school day!
Only around half of children in the UK spend time playing with other children outside.
What are the Benefits to Play?
We believe that playful learning experiences, and time where children are allowed to learn through play are...
Helpful
Play promotes children’s development, learning, imagination, creativity and independence. Play also can help to keep children healthy and active.
Engaging
Children become deeply involved, often combining physical, mental and verbal engagement.
Iterative
Play and learning are not static. Children play to practice skills, try out possibilities, revise hypotheses and discover new challenges, leading to deeper learning.
Risky
Play allows children to experience and encounter boundaries, learning to assess and manage risk in their lives; both physical and social.
Socially Interactive
Play can be a way of building and maintaining important relationships Play allows children to communicate ideas, to understand others through social interaction, paving the way to build deeper understanding and more powerful relationships. Play enhances teamwork.
Meaningful
Children play to make sense of the world around them, and to find meaning in an experience by connecting it to something already known. Through play, children express and expand their understanding of their experiences. Play allows children to find out about themselves, their abilities, their interests and the contribution they can make.
Joyful
Playing is fun: it is how children enjoy themselves. When children play, they are often smiling and laughing. Of course, play may have its frustrations and challenges, but the overall feeling is one of enjoyment, motivation, thrill and pleasure.
At Queen’s Park, we believe that all children need opportunities to play that allow them to explore, investigate, and experience their environment. We believe play provision should be welcoming and accessible to every child, irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, economic or social circumstances, ethnic or cultural background or origin, or individual abilities. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for play by offering a diverse range of opportunities and allowing children freedom to play in the ways they choose.
How Can Parents Help?
As we improve play opportunities for your children, we will be making changes about how our children use the school grounds. We are developing our grounds so that we may use more of the grounds, for more of the year.
To help us do this... it is important that each child has the following items in school:
Wellies
Each child needs their own pair of welly boots.
If you need any support getting a pair, please let us know via the School Office.
If you have an unused pair at home, or one a pair that are too small, please donate them to our welly shop!
A Waterproof Coat
Each child needs a waterproof coat.
We hope to have outdoor access all year round which means a warm, waterproof coat is essential!
Although colourful, designer coats look great and are very stylish, a plain, dark coat is best.
