OPAL
OPAL - Outdoor Play and Learning
It has long been recognised that play is fundamental to a child’s health, happiness, development and well being. Research has also shown that children spend 20% of their time in school playing. This led our staff to reflect upon how playtimes could be improved at Archibald and in the Autumn of 2022 our OPAL journey began.
The OPAL vision is that “every child in every school has an amazing hour of high quality play every day” and as a school we share this vision and recognise the enormous benefits play has on a child’s life. The OPAL programme rationale is that:
better, more active and creative playtimes can mean happier and healthier children, and having happier, healthier, more active children usually results in a more positive attitude to learning in school, with more effective classroom lessons, less staff time spent resolving unnecessary behavioural problems, fewer playtime accidents, happier staff and a healthier attitude to life.
Our school also acknowledges the UN Charter on the Rights of the Child, especially Article 31, and supports the child’s right to play. 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.
OPAL at Archibald
We continue to develop the OPAL approach and to work with our school community to continually refine and enhance our play provision to offer the highest quality play experiences, whatever the weather, building on what we currently offer.
The school site is divided into zones and fundamental to our approach is that children have the opportunity to play wherever they want and with whoever they want. Our children have the freedom to explore and play in their own imaginative ways, experimenting, problem solving and having fun using a wide range of available resources which will be different in each zone.
Our outdoor areas are continually being developed and offer an even wider range of play opportunities. The children love playing in all the different areas including rolling in tyres, constructing dens, creating games with small world toys or zipping round the yard on wheels. They are having fun and are developing life skills of team work, problem solving, communication, resilience whilst also developing their creativity and imagination.
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