OPAL Outdoor Play and Learning

OPAL!

Amazing News!!  In June 2023 Manor Park were accredited The Platinum Award for OPAL.  Only 0.5% of Primary Schools in the UK offer a play experience as good as we offer at Manor Park!!!

Did You Know That Children Participate In Up To 600 Playtimes A Year. That Accounts For Approximately 20% Of The School Day Or 1.4 Years Of Their Primary Education! 

Play has changed hugely over the last 25 years as the world has become a much busier and more technologically developed place. Children sadly sometimes miss out on the physical, creative side of play that is so important to their development. OPAL has been designed to give children the sense of freedom that perhaps we all enjoyed as children but that the modern world sometimes denies us.

 We are committed to ensuring quality play opportunities are available to all of our children at Manor Park Primary School as we believe that play is essential for children’s physical, emotional, social and intellectual development.

Children spend 20% of their time in school playing. To ensure that this time and our fantastic school grounds are used to their full potential our school has adopted an OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) philosophy that allows the children freedom to explore play in their own imaginative ways, often using found and gathered resources in the natural outdoor environment.

An OPAL approach promotes a more inclusive play environment in which all children can feel comfortable to express themselves. Our OPAL journey began in Autumn 2021 and since this time, we have quickly transformed our outdoor environment. Our children love the new outdoor opportunities that OPAL offers with so much more for them to do, no matter the weather! From playing with tyres and digging in the sand pit, to enjoying imaginative play in the woodland area or cooking up a storm in the mud kitchen, OPAL offers an exciting alternative to the standard playground activities.

Through this approach to play children are not only more active at lunch or break times, but they are also having the opportunity to further develop life skills such as cooperation, team work and problem solving. They are becoming motivated and enthusiastic builders, engineers, explorers and designers.

What our children think?

-There’s lots to do - disco, football, hula hoops, skipping, going on the field/spinney, sticks, trim trail, tyres, quiet area, chalking, dressing up, climbing Year 5 child 

-I enjoy lunch because it has the equipment out and it is longer Year 3 Child

– It’s really fun. We get to dress up, go in the spinney, have bubbles, play with different friends and chalk . Year 2 child

– We have fun, are kind to each other, get to go on the field and muga, play leaders let us try new things, Year 3 child