At Wouldham, we are excited to participate in the Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) primary programme, which is endorsed and supported by Sport England.
Children in British primary schools spend 20% or 1.4 years of their school attendance in play, yet many school have no strategic or values-based approach to play across all ages.
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. Its success comes from a series of interrelated actions undertaken with specialist support from an OPAL mentor. This embeds play into the school’s policies and practices and establishes clear guiding principles and strategies for initiating lasting changes at playtimes.
We are committed to ensuring quality play opportunities are available to all our children. We believe that play is essential for physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual development of each child. Most of our best childhood memories are from playing outdoors, climbing trees and exploring the wide world around us. OPAL gives us the opportunity to give those memories to your children.
OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) is all about using naturally and man-made resources to allow children to be inspired and creative at playtime. We are always in need of donations. If you are able to donate any of the following, please bring them round to the main reception - Thank you.
- Suitcases of any size or type.
- Anything on wheels or castors
- Plastic milk crates/supermarket delivery crates/plastic bread trays
- Briefcases, especially hard cased ones.
- Road signs and cones
- Kitchen pots, pans, baking trays, wooden spoons, chopping boards
- Tools like small spades/shovels, trowels and brooms
- Tubes of various sizes and materials
- Buckets
- Nets and thick ropes
- Keyboards, torches, laptops, calculators, mobile phones, desk phones, webcams, cameras, that are no longer working.
- Fabric (large sheets/brightly coloured fabric)
- Foam sheets/bodyboards/camping roll mats/yoga mats
- Wooden pallets
- Metal frames
- Cable drums
- Guttering
- Pool noodles
- Hats/scarves/jazzy shirts/elasticated skirts/waistcoats/wedding dresses/character costumes
- Pegs for den building