OPAL
Amazing play, everyday, for every child
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
March 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
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
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 see what playtimes look like at other OPAL schools click here
(33) Amazing Primary Playtime at St Michael's OPAL Platinum School - YouTube
To find out more about OPAL
Home - Outdoor Play And Learning
