“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.”

Kay Redfield Jamison – Psychologist

At East Bergholt CEVC Primary School, we believe that play is an essential part of a happy and healthy childhood. Through play, children develop their imagination and creativity, build friendships, learn to solve problems, become more physically active and develop the confidence to manage challenges and make decisions for themselves.

We are very excited to be at the beginning of our OPAL journey.

OPAL stands for Outdoor Play and Learning, and we are working with the OPAL Primary Programme to develop the quality of play that we provide for every child during the school day.

This is not something that will happen overnight. The OPAL programme is a carefully planned process of whole-school development which typically takes around 18 months to two years to fully embed. During this time, we will work together with our OPAL mentor, children, staff, governors and families to gradually transform our approach to play.

We are right at the start of this journey, so families will begin to see new opportunities and changes developing gradually over the coming months.

What is OPAL?

The OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) Primary Programme is a school improvement programme that supports schools to provide high-quality play opportunities for every child.

Children spend a significant amount of their time at school playing, and OPAL encourages schools to give this important part of the school day the same careful thought, planning and attention as other areas of school life.

As we progress through the programme, we will look at how we use our school grounds, the range of play opportunities available to children, the resources we provide, how adults support play and how we enable children to experience appropriate challenge and risk.

Our aim is that, over time, children will have more choice about where, how and with whom they play, alongside many more opportunities to be active, creative, imaginative and sociable.

What will our OPAL journey look like?

Over the next 18 months to two years, we will gradually develop play at East Bergholt CEVC Primary School.

This will involve thinking carefully about how play is planned for, resourced and supported across our school. Changes will be introduced gradually, allowing us to make sure that they work well for our children and our school.

As our journey progresses, this is likely to include:

• making greater use of our school grounds throughout the year
• introducing a wider variety of play opportunities and resources, including loose parts and opportunities for imaginative and creative play
• giving children greater choice and independence in their play
• helping children learn how to recognise and manage appropriate risk and challenge
• training staff so that they understand how best to support high-quality play
• listening to children's views and involving them in the development of play at our school
• working with parents, carers and our wider community to help us develop and resource our play provision

Importantly, we are at the beginning of this process. We do not expect all of these changes to happen at once. Our OPAL provision will grow and develop as we work through the programme, and we will keep our families informed along the way.

Why are we doing this?

Quite simply, we want every child at East Bergholt CEVC Primary School to have an amazing playtime every day.

High-quality play gives children opportunities to invent, build, explore, negotiate, collaborate, solve problems, develop friendships and challenge themselves.

Through our OPAL journey, we want to create lunchtimes where every child can find something that interests and engages them, whether they enjoy being active, creating and building, using their imagination, spending time with friends or finding a quieter place to play.

Ultimately, our aim is to make this important part of every child's school day richer, happier and more fulfilling.

What will my child need?

As our OPAL provision develops, children will increasingly have opportunities to use our outdoor spaces throughout the year. This means embracing the British weather too!

Having appropriate clothing will be important so that children can enjoy their play comfortably throughout the seasons.

In winter, children are likely to need:

• wellington boots 
• a waterproof, rather than showerproof, coat
• waterproof trousers where possible
• a hat, scarf and gloves
• a named change of clothes to keep in school, including socks

In summer, children are likely to need:

• suitable outdoor footwear
• a waterproof coat for wet weather
• a sun hat
• sun cream
• a named change of clothes to keep in school, including socks

We will provide families with more information as different aspects of our OPAL provision are introduced.

Please make sure that clothing and footwear are clearly named. As our OPAL journey develops, children may sometimes come home a little muddier than they do now!

How can families get involved?

OPAL is a whole-school journey, and we would love our families and wider community to be part of it.

As our provision develops, we will be asking for help with resources and donations. This may include loose parts – everyday objects and materials that children can move, combine, build with, create with and transform through their imagination.

We will let families know what we need as different areas of play are developed, so please watch this space.

Over the coming months, we will also use this page to share photographs, updates and information so that you can follow our OPAL journey and see play at East Bergholt CEVC Primary School begin to transform.