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Opal Play

OPAL PLAY

What does OPAL Play look like at Mill Lodge?

Mill Lodge Primary School is an OPAL platinum school. We recognise that play is an essential part of a happy and healthy childhood. As a school, we provide consistently high quality, sustainable play opportunities for all children. These inclusive opportunities in play are achieved by offering carefully considered outdoor spaces, equipment and toys that offer a rich choice of accessible play experiences for every child. We believe that play has a vital role in children’s health, happiness and wellbeing. It creates children who are independent, confident, imaginative, adaptable, social and able to assess risks. These skills work closely alongside our values which are: Kindness, respect, honesty, commitment, cooperation and responsibility.

 

Children spend up to 20% or 1.4 years of their time in school at play. This time needs to be coherent and planned for. Research shows that play can enhance problem solving; it also provides opportunities for social interaction and language development, which is vital for all children. Quality play leads to happier children and happier staff.  By increasing the play opportunities, there are fewer behaviour problems, a more positive attitude to school and improved skills development and learning.

 

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”.

 

When asked if play was important, the children at Mill Lodge responded:

  • Play is important because it teaches us how to share and be kind
  • It helps us learn how to resolve issues
  • We learn to persevere when things aren’t going the way you expect them to
  • We learn how to problem solve.
  • While we play, we are learning.

 

In a survey, 98% of the children thought play was important.

 

Other useful information:

At Mill Lodge we go out to play in any weather, so need to be ready for this. The field can get very wet and muddy, so your child needs a pair of wellies and waterproof coat in school to be able to use the field. The wellies will then stay in school, in our welly stores,  so children can access them whenever they need them.

 

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