Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL)

Did you know that playtime is about 20% of every child’s day at school? That’s 1.4 years of every child’s life while they are at primary school. It is also, for many children, the only time they have to play outside regularly. Playing outdoors in rich play environments is one of the best ways for children to develop social skills, build resilience, make more friends, be more creative and care more about the planet. Right now, this is more important than ever. 
I am very excited to tell you that St Laurence is now starting to participate in the Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) primary programme, which is endorsed and supported by Sport England and runs in hundreds of schools across the UK and worldwide.

This programme is a journey that we're undertaking over the next 12-18 months with OPAL, developing the playground and play of the children. We need your help. Please see the image of loose parts below that we are collecting now!

You can watch a video of how the OPAL programme has helped transform school playtimes here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UCex3K_0j4&t=4s 

and read more on the OPAL website: https://outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk/