Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL)
At Grove House, our children and parents have celebrated the journey that we have been on with OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning). Once more traditional playtimes, are now underpinned by encouraging children to find enjoyment in ‘open’ activities, with adults supporting them to explore their ‘wants and desires’ rather than play fixed games. OPAL is a nationally recognised programme that supports schools in developing high-quality play opportunities, fostering creativity, resilience, and well-being in pupils.
We believe that play is a crucial part of every child’s development, accounting for 20% of a child’s time in our care. Applying the principles of OPAL, we provide a variety of exciting outdoor experiences that encourage children to be imaginative, active, and collaborative. We have a boat, variety of resources for playing music, a mud kitchen area, a scrap arts cupboard and much more, all of which fosters children’s interests ranging from art, to role play, to more physical, den-building activities. This encourages both creativity, team-work and problem-solving.
By embedding the OPAL ethos into our school culture and play supervisors, we ensure that playtimes are not just enjoyable but also contribute to children’s emotional, physical, and social development. We link it to our circle time discussions and weekly celebrations to ensure that children understand how they can enjoy and maximise play times and so that staff are supported to promote high-quality play
We value immensely the support of our parents and community in helping us enhance our play provision. They have been pivotal to the resources that we have, and their donations of resources and time will always be appreciated.
Being an OPAL school means that creative play is at the epicentre of our play experience. We are dedicated to providing an environment where every child can thrive, explore, and create memories that will last a lifetime.
There are links to some more detailed information on this page, and as always, we welcome any donations to our playtime offereing!