OPAL
What is OPAL and why is it so important to Downs View?
At Downs view we believe that play is paramount in securing learning for our children. Giving children the opportunity to learn through play is essential to them building strong foundations in knowledge and enhancing the skills they have developed in the classroom.
Showing children that learning is happening every day and in all kinds of situations raises the importance of learning and allows children of all abilities, races, cultures, and social economic backgrounds to engage in an inclusive and supportive environment where they drive their own learning forward.
For many children in 2025 play is not an ingredient in their daily lives and many children have not had great play experiences especially outdoors. Children in British primary schools spend 20% or 1.4 years of their school attendance in play and so getting this right is so important for our youngest children. Research shows that play contributes to children’s physical and emotional health, well-being, approach to learning and enjoyment of school. Given the importance of play in children’s lives and current concerns about children’s health and opportunity to access time and space to initiate their own play outdoors, there are considerable benefits for children, parents, school and the wider community from participating in OPAL's programme.
The Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) Primary Programme is a mentor-supported school improvement programme. It is the only programme of its kind that has been independently proven to sustainably improve the quality of play in British primary schools and we are so excited to be part of this journey
Whilst our OPAL team and mentors lead this project we believe that the many hands make lighter work and that everyone in our community has something to offer. Working as a community is so beneficial for our children and also can have a huge impact on our own wellbeing. Giving something back to your community can feel great so if you want to get on board we would love to hear from you.
The OPAL Primary Programme offers schools a structured process, with mentored support provided for up to two years and many resources, to enable schools to permanently change both their environment and their culture to enable provision of amazing playtimes every day.
We have made a great start already but have so many more plans to implement.
Benefits we have seen so far…
Improved behaviour
OPAL schools report up to 80% decreases in use of behaviour policies and 90% drops in senior leadership time spent in resolving playtime issues. We have already seen a huge reduction in incidents at playtime as well as children returning to class feeling more confident and calmer following their engaging playtimes.
What our children say…
Pupil Voice
Children love to tell us what is happening and what they would like to see next. They participate in a weekly play assembly where they share ideas and evaluate what is going well. We have an opportunity to involve them in problem solving ideas if something is not going so well and let the children give suggestions about how changes can be made. Pupils have commented that this is their favourite time of the week!
Leadership
School council
School council play an integral role in OPAL. They help us to shape our vision for the future and inform our action plan. These children are loving the opportunity to be young leaders and will form our play leaders in the coming months. Thanks School Council.
Community
Community spirit
We are so lucky to have such a talented community who have already given so much of their time at our latest work parties. These have been a huge success and have made our project the success it has been so far. Thankyou!
Happiness and wellbeing
Play is a human need and a human right. Children and staff at OPAL schools report feeling less stressed and happier, and more excited about school.
At Downs View our children being happy is our number one priority and just watching your children play is showing how happy they are. They are engaged, excited and full of fun just as it should be. We are so privileged to be about to see the world through so many pairs of little eyes… and the eyes of our future.
Impact- What do OFSTED say?
The OPAL Primary Programme has been shown to support behavioural and inclusion improvements as well as more general wellbeing. Many of the highest Platinum Award level OPAL schools are also OFSTED Outstanding rated schools. OPAL helps schools deliver a clear vision, and planned approach for a better childhood and future for all children in line with the 2019 OFSTED inspection framework.
