We are so excited to be implementing OPAL in our school this year. OPAL is an award-winning school improvement programme that focuses on non-curricular play. It supports sustainable cultural change within schools, to transform the quality of playtimes. This has huge benefits for children and adults.
At Greenmount, by implementing the OPAL programme, we want to provide lots of opportunities for play. We specifically want to
- Improve the quality of playtimes by offering a wider range of
exciting play opportunities. - Support children’s well-being, independence and resilience.
- Encourage teamwork, communication and creativity through
open-ended play. - Make playtimes happier, calmer and more inclusive for all pupils.
- Strengthen our school community, giving children more chances to
cooperation, share and build friendships.
How can families help?
Play is not simply messing about but is the process that enables children to learn about themselves and others. There are certain things children must have in order to be able to play. These include:
- Having clothes they can play in
- Having things to play with
- Having a certain amount of freedom
We welcome the commitment from all of our parents to the essentials outlined above.
Part of adventurous OPAL play is that children will be able to enjoy the freedom of choosing how they play and managing the challenges they meet along the way… even when it means they get a littler messier! We feel the experiences fostered through OPAL are essential to every child’s physical, mental, social and adventurous well-being.
Loose Parts
To kick-start OPAL we are collecting a variety of loose parts. Loose parts are any materials that can be easily moved, combined, and incorporated into children’s free play. We continue to reach out to our wider school community to donate loose parts to add more variety to what we can offer our children and to continually replace broken items.
If you have anything you think we may like, big or small, please let the school office know. Sometimes, your clearance is our treasure! See pictures below for ideas of loose part items.
