Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL)
Amazing play, everyday, for every child
OPAL: Making Play Better at Barham
At Barham Church of England Primary School, we believe that play is an essential part of a happy, healthy childhood. High-quality play supports children’s physical and emotional wellbeing while helping us to realise our vision of enabling every child to become kind, confident and curious.
Kind – Children play collaboratively and inclusively with pupils of different ages. They learn to share, cooperate, support one another and care for the natural environment.
Confident – Children make independent choices, manage appropriate risks, solve problems and learn to resolve disagreements peacefully.
Curious – Children explore, investigate and experiment through a wide range of creative, imaginative and open-ended play opportunities.
Our OPAL journey
Barham began its OPAL journey in September 2025. The OPAL Primary Programme is an 18–24-month whole-school improvement programme, and we are working towards achieving an OPAL award.
OPAL stands for Outdoor Play and Learning. It helps schools develop a consistent, strategic approach to play so that every child can benefit from rich, inclusive and enjoyable play opportunities throughout the school year.
Why play matters
Children in British primary schools spend approximately 20% of their time at school playing. Across their primary education, this is equivalent to around 1.4 years. We therefore believe that the quality of this time should not be left to chance.
Play helps children to:
* develop friendships and social skills;
* become more active and physically confident;
* use their imagination and creativity;
* solve problems and make decisions;
* develop resilience and independence;
* manage appropriate risks and challenges;
* improve their emotional wellbeing; and
* return to the classroom happier and ready to learn.
Schools taking part in the OPAL programme commonly report happier children, more positive behaviour, fewer playtime disputes and more teaching time because pupils settle more quickly when they return to class.
We are committed to making every minute of play at Barham as happy, active and valuable as possible.
What makes good play?
OPAL uses the widely recognised playwork definition of play:
> “Play is a process that is freely chosen, personally directed and intrinsically motivated.”
This means that children have meaningful choices about what they play, how they play and whom they play with. Adults provide appropriate support, supervision and resources while allowing children’s ideas, creativity and imagination to lead their play.
Children’s rights
Our approach reflects the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:
Article 31 – every child has the right to rest, relax and play.
Article 12 – every child has the right to express their views about matters that affect them and to have those views taken seriously.
Pupil voice is therefore central to the development of OPAL at Barham. Regular assemblies, class discussions and conversations at playtimes allow children to contribute ideas, evaluate new opportunities and help shape the future of play at our school.
Managing risk safely
We follow the Health and Safety Executive’s balanced approach to children’s play. This recognises that well-managed opportunities for challenge and appropriate risk are important for children’s learning and development.
Our approach does not mean ignoring risk. Staff identify and control serious hazards while enabling children to develop the judgement, confidence and resilience they need to manage everyday challenges. Play opportunities, resources and areas of the school grounds are carefully risk–benefit assessed, checked and reviewed.
What families can expect
As our OPAL provision develops, children will be able to use more of our school grounds, during more of the year, and in a greater variety of ways. They will have access to a growing range of loose parts and open-ended resources that can be moved, combined and transformed through their imagination.
This may mean that children sometimes come home a little muddier. They may encounter more physical challenges and have greater freedom to decide where, how and with whom they play. These experiences make an important contribution to children’s physical health, emotional wellbeing, independence and development.
OPAL play takes place throughout the year. Please ensure that your child has a named waterproof coat and wellies in school, together with clothing suitable for active and sometimes muddy outdoor play.
OPAL is much more than equipment
OPAL is not simply about providing children with additional things to play with. It is a carefully planned programme of whole-school development.
Our school OPAL team works with an experienced OPAL mentor to develop staff training, playwork practice, risk–benefit assessment, action planning, resourcing, maintenance and the effective use of our school grounds. We continually review our provision and listen closely to the views of our children.
Can you help us?
We want to give our children even more opportunities for creative, active and imaginative play. We have created an Amazon wish list containing resources that will help us enrich our play provision.
We are extremely grateful for every contribution. Thank you for helping us to make play at Barham even better for all our children.