High-quality lunchtime play is an important part of the school day for primary school children and plays a significant role in supporting their wellbeing. Lunchtime provides a valuable opportunity for children to relax, recharge, and engage in play. High-quality lunchtime play supports emotional wellbeing. It gives children the chance to express themselves creatively, release tension, and practise independence.  We aim for lunchtimes to be a positive and inclusive experience for all children, helping them feel happier, more settled, and ready to learn. To help achieve this, we have launched the OPAL Play Programme. 

What is the OPAL Primary Programme?

The OPAL Primary Programme is a series of meetings and resources provided by a specialist mentor who will work with your child's school to transform playtimes so they provide the most active, fun and sociable play opportunity possible for your child. Our motto is ‘Every child should have an amazing playtime every day, without exceptions’.

Who is OPAL?

OPAL is the UK’s leading not-for-profit school improvement organisation focused on supporting the development of high-quality playtimes. We have improved play for over 1.5 million UK primary school children in around 2,000 schools and won numerous awards. We have also worked with schools in North America, Europe, Australasia and Asia.

What will be different about playtimes?

Your child will have many more opportunities to be active, as the whole school grounds will be used throughout the year. They will have many more opportunities for imaginative play as there will be many objects to play with. Your child can mix with children of all ages and choose where and how they play. Staff will receive specialist training to enrich play.

Why is the school spending time and money on play?

Play is how children learn all the things they need to know that cannot be taught in lessons. It is like a safe laboratory of life skills where they can experiment and explore. Play supports all areas of children's learning and development.

What are the areas of development?

1. Academic. Play supports real-world learning in all academic areas, including maths, literacy, and language development.
2. Physical. Research shows play to be the best and most popular way for children to be active. All areas of health are improved when children have plenty of outdoor playful movement.
3. Social. Play is the way children learn and practise relationships. Learning how to work with and get on with others is essential for a happy and successful life.
4. Mental. Research proves children rate good play as one of the most important things they need to be happy in life. More than half of children now only play outside with other children at school.
5. Emotional. Play provides the best opportunities for children to learn about the full range of human emotions, understand themselves, and develop strategies for managing their feelings.

Will my child get their uniform dirty?

The purpose of a child’s school clothing is to suit the development needs of the child. Childhood inactivity and physical weakness are huge modern problems. Your child will be encouraged to use all of the school grounds in all weather and to use their bodies to run, swing, crawl, climb and roll.

Will my child be at more risk?

The simple answer to this is no. OPAL schools tend to have around 80% fewer accidents than non-OPAL schools. We follow all the best and most up-to-date guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Department of Education (DoE) and RoSPA. The best way to keep children safe throughout their whole lives is to let them experience appropriate risk and challenge in a supervised and managed environment.

How can I help?

You can help by providing your children with welly boots and a waterproof coat that keeps the rain out, regularly donating ‘loose parts’ to school and enriching your child’s home play experiences.

Click here to watch a video to find out more https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8a_07xHZco