OPAL (Outside Play and Learning)

 

Playtimes are a special time at Porters Grange. The playgrounds are a hive of fun and activity, just as

they should be. We recognise that every child should have the right to play in a purposeful, creative and

meaningful way. It has long been recognised that play is fundamental to a child’s health, happiness,

development and well-being. This led us to reflect upon how playtimes could be improved in our school.

This was when our OPAL journey started, in 2022. 

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The OPAL vision is that “every child in every school has an amazing hour of high quality play every day”

and as a school we share this vision and recognise the enormous benefits play has on a child’s life.

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We are developing our OPAL approach by working with parents and our local community to improve our

play provision. OPAL is a journey where we are always looking for ways to improve and transform our

outdoor areas to ensure the children have freedom to explore in their own imaginative ways. This would be through experimenting, problem solving and having fun using a wide range of available resources which are very different in each zone. 

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The children love playing in all of the areas including den building, creating recipes in the mud kitchen, building sandcastles and digging in the sand pits and swinging on their home- made rope swings. 

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Our project goes from strength to strength but there is always more to do, so with the support of our OPAL team and fantastic families, the world of play will continue to be transformed to capture and inspire our children’s imaginations.