Opal Play

OPAL Play

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.

The OPAL vision is that “every child in every school has an amazing hour of high quality play every day” and at St. Wilfrid’s we share this vision and recognise the enormous benefits play has on a child’s life.

We have developed the OPAL approach and worked with our school community to improve our play provision. Our school grounds are amazing with lots of areas being unused. We have been slowly developing these areas so they can be used by the children on a daily basis.

We have divided the school site into named areas – so far we have:

The Quad – dancing, music, singing, role play, dressing up.

KS1 Yard – sports.

Small world area – dinosaurs, cars, horses, mini golf, bowling.

Field – Mud kitchen, adventure trail, Large loose parts.

Prayer Garden – reading, crafts, sensory area.

Film room – an inside area for children to watch a film.

Children can play in any area they wish and are mixing with children of all ages throughout the school.

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 outdoor areas are continually being developed to offer an even wider range of play opportunities. They are having fun and are developing life skills of team work, problem solving, communication, resilience whilst also developing their creativity and imagination.

At St. Wilfrid’s we acknowledge 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.