We have embraced Opal Play this year and are creating wonderful opportunities for this very important aspect of child development.

OPAL 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 play or lunch time, we want to make sure that this amount of time (equivalent to 1.4 years of primary school) is as good as possible.

One reason we are using this programme, is that childhood has changed, and many children no longer get their play needs met outside school. 

• Average screen time per day is six hours.
• Average outdoor play time per week is five hours.
• 56% of children in the UK only play outdoors with other children at school.

There are many proven benefits for schools that carry out the OPAL Primary Programme. They usually include: 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 evolution has come up with to enable children to learn all the things that cannot be taught, while also having fun. There are certain things children must have in order to be able to play. These include:

• Clothes that they can play in.
• Things to play with.
• Having a certain amount of freedom.

The vision for Opal - click here to see more https://outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk/ and what an Opal playtime may look like in schools where it has been running for several years... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm7IfAEsjqI 

Taken from the Opal Vision statement - At OPAL we have seen just how much of an impact improving play can make to a school. We are not just talking about playtimes being a bit less bother or about children being a bit happier. We are talking about cultural transformation.

When you address a need that is so fundamental to children's physical and mental well-being as play, and you do it well, it is impossible to think of how you ran a school and didn’t do this.

Our vision is that every child in every school has an amazing hour of high-quality play every day – with no exceptions. If one child is not enjoying playtimes, then things still need improving.

We want every school to plan for, resource and evaluate the quality of their 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.