OPAL
Amazing play, everyday, for every child
Holmer Lake are proud to be an OPAL PLATINUM school. OPAL is an award-winning, mentor supported school improvement programme that addresses all the areas that schools must plan for if they want to strategically and sustainably improve the quality of their play opportunities. OPAL is the only programme of its kind that has been independently proven to sustainably improve the quality of play in British primary schools.
Holmer Lake has invested in the OPAL programme to improve opportunities for physical activity, socialisation, cooperation, coordination, resilience, creativity, imagination and enjoyment through improved play.
The Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) Primary Programme is the result of over 20 years of testing and development in over 800 schools and has been used in Spain, Canada, France and New Zealand. The programme has also been adapted and used in schools in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Austria under the Play Friendly Schools project. In 2018, OPAL won first prize in an EU-funded award for the best active school’s programme in Europe and two UK national playwork awards. In 2019, OPAL was awarded a quarter of a million pounds by Sport England to bring the programme to many more schools.
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.
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.
As Holmer Lake improves play opportunities for your children, you may find us asking you for resources and making changes about how the children use the school grounds. We may use more of the grounds, for more of the year. 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. The experiences the school is fostering are essential for children’s physical and mental wellbeing and are in line with all current good practice advice on health and safety, wellbeing and development.
LATEST OPAL NEWS
July 2024
Radio Shropshire visited us to hear all about OPAL playtimes and our Platinum Award. They spoke to children and adults about how we had achieved this award. Listen to the interview by using QR code below. We are very proud that lots of people in Shropshire now know how fantastic OPAL playtimes are.
June 2024
It was great to be able to use the field much more as we finally had some dry and sunny weather. Large loose parts such as tyres, pallets, poles and planks together with some tarpaulins, proved very popular for the construction of larger structure for dens and climbing.
March 2024
We are delighted to have been awarded the Platinum Award for Outdoor Play and Learning. We are the first school in Telford to receive such an award for our outstanding play offer. Following our award assembly, we hosted teachers from schools across Telford and West Midlands who came along to see what amazing playtimes we have at Holmer Lake. Well done everyone!
March 2024
In the woods we now have a slackline - great for testing your balance and co-ordination!
February 2024
We are delighted to open our fantastic new sand pit alongside a brilliant tyre dragon, all of which has been so kindly built by an amazing grounds team from local house builders, Bovis and Linden Homes (part of Vistry Group). The construction was closely watched by the children and after what seemed like a very long wait, (for some Spring weather!) they are now loving this new part of OPAL playtimes. Thank you to everyone at Vistry Group who made this possible!
Press Release from Vistry Group
February 2024
We opened our Reading Caravan. A great place to chill out, relax and enjoy a book.
January 2024
The children have loved the introduction of a table tennis table (UPDATE - we now have 2!) and the dig zone.
September 2023
Playing with water is always a popular choice, so we have introduced a "self service" water area.
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May 2023
Our mud kitchen is open for business and also there seems to have been a boat come ashore on our playground!
Our Playtime Charter
All children and young people have the right to play and need to play; children should be free to choose what they do – lively or relaxed, noisy, or quiet – with the chance to stretch and challenge themselves, take risks and enjoy freedom.
The right to play is enshrined in Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Everyone has the responsibility to make sure everyone enjoys playtime.
The adult’s responsibilities are to:
- Ensure that every child has the time and space to play freely and confidently with their friends at lunchtime.
- Provide lots of different types of play where children can get have fun, feel challenged, be supported and be independent and get dirty!
- Help children at playtime when they need it to have fun and be safe.
The children’s responsibilities are to follow our Smarter Playtimes Code.
To view our play policy please click here
To find out more about OPAL
Home - Outdoor Play And Learning
