In October 2023, we launched an exciting new project to improve our playtime facilities, in conjunction with Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) CIC. In 2018, OPAL won the best active schools’ programme in Europe award and is working closely with Sport England to promote more active childhoods, which is one of the many reasons we are improving our playtime, as well as to improve opportunities for socialisation, cooperation, coordination, resilience, creativity, imagination & enjoyment for our pupils.

OPAL's philosophy is as follows: 

We strongly believe that: “Play is freely chosen, personally directed, intrinsically motivated behaviour that actively engages the child. Play can be fun or serious. Through play children explore social, material and imaginary worlds and their relationship with them, elaborating all the while a flexible range of responses to the challenges they encounter. By playing, children learn and develop as individuals, and as members of the community.” (Children’s Play Council 2001).

The project will develop over the next 18 months and beyond and our hopes are that it will change the way we think and how we play together. So far, feedback from our pupils is very positive and they will happily tell us that they love OPAL! 

To facilitate this project, we are always happy to receive donations of 'loose parts' - any materials that can be easily moved, combined, and incorporated into children's free play. The items we are looking for will enable us to enjoy a wider range of play experiences during playtime (see below for some examples):

• Suitcases of any size and type
• Anything on wheels/castors
• Plastic milk crates/supermarket delivery crates/plastic bread trays
• Briefcases, especially hard cased ones
• Road signs and cones
• Kitchen pots, pans, baking trays, work tables, wooden spoons, chopping boards
• Tools like small spades/shovels, trowels and brooms
• Tubes of various sizes and various 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