OPAL

Outdoor Play and Learning

Did you know? 

Play makes up 20% of school life… That means per year you spend: 231 hours playing = 37 days = 7.4 weeks

At East Herrington, we want to change playtime to make it a lot more fun!

Our mission is for every child to have an amazing playtime, every day … no exceptions!

  • It keeps us active and healthy.
  • It helps us to build positive friendships.
  • It helps us to become resilient.
  • It allows us to take risks.
  • It helps us to become imaginative and creative.
  • It makes us happy and is good for our wellbeing.

We have listened very carefully to our children, parents and staff about how to improve our playtimes in school and have created some exciting areas for children to enjoy. These include:

  • Large tyre play
  • Construction and building
  • Lego
  • Water play
  • A digging area

Our children are having lots of fun exploring these areas at playtime and lunchtime. They enjoy playing in our mud kitchens and sand pits. We have these in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

At East Herrington we enjoy getting ‘messy’ and we always have suitable footwear for our outdoor play, even in the rain and mud! We all have wellies or shoes to wear when in muddy areas and some waterproof suits kindly funded by Friends of the School. These suits will help us to play in all weathers whilst keeping warm and dry.

Our OPAL Play Assemblies have helped everyone to understand how to have fun, take risks and play safely. In KS1 we have appointed ‘OPAL Leaders’ and the children have taken on their roles with much enthusiasm. They are now trained and qualified to help with resources and help other children play together if they are lonely on the yard. You can spot a OPAL Leader in their special uniform which consists of a yellow vest and an OPAL badge. 

KS1 and KS2 have voted and elected OPAL Leaders for Playtimes outside too. The children have a very special role that includes helping setting up and tidying our OPAL areas, looking after the equipment and resources and ensuring everyone has a friend to play with at playtime. Well done! A Deputy Leader will be chosen weekly to help the OPAL Leaders so that everyone is involved in our OPAL in school. Sports Leaders in Y5 and Y6 will work alongside our OPAL Leaders to ensure that outside time is always safe and fun!

Files to Download

Play Policy