OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning)
OPAL at Gunthorpe Primary School
Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) has now been launched at Gunthorpe Primary School and we are already seeing many benefits from the new play opportunities. Over the next school year there will be many more additional resources to help facilitate different ways to play. It has been proven that high quality play can provide opportunities for physical activity, socialisation, cooperation, coordination, resilience, creativity, imagination and enjoyment. Our aim is to ensure that all of our children experience at least an hour of high-quality play every day.
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 playtime, 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 the school is carrying out this programme is that childhood has changed, and many children no longer get their play needs met out of school.
• Average screen time per day is six hours.
• Average outdoor play time per week is five hours.
• The percentage of UK children who only play outdoors with other children at school is 56%.
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 of the things that cannot be taught, while also having so much fun. There are certain things children must have in order to be able to play. These include:
• Having clothes that they can play in.
• Having things to play with.
• Having a certain amount of freedom.
We are really excited about this project and hope that you will support us in our efforts to improve playtime for all children.
If you would like to learn more about the OPAL Primary Programme, please have a look at the OPAL website (www.outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk), where you will find lots of useful information and several videos about the programme.
How you can support us in ensuring OPAL succeeds at Gunthorpe Primary School. |
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Wet/Muddy play
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. Therefore, your child will need the following: Wellington boots Raincoat Waterproof trousers
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Help develop our groundsIn the coming months, you will be invited to events where you can come and see for yourselves what is happening and have the opportunity to join in too. |
Providing equipment
As we improve play opportunities for your children, you may find us asking you for donations of resources in order to support making changes to our school grounds . These include: Plastic crates, bins or boxes (any size) |
