Here at Grove Road Primary School, we are committed to ensuring quality play opportunities are available to all our children. Play is an integral part of the school day and, on average, takes up 20% of a child’s time in school: around 1.4 years of their primary school life!
As schools, we recognise play as a way all children encounter, explore and make sense of the world and their place within it. Therefore, it is our duty to ensure our site, staff and skills optimise the most fulfilling and rich play opportunities possible during breaktimes and lunchtimes. In doing so, we aim to highlight the interconnection between play, learning, development, health and happiness.
Most of our best childhood memories are from playing outdoors, climbing trees and exploring the wide world around us. OPAL gives us the opportunity to give those memories to your children. OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) is all about using naturally and man made resources to allow children to be inspired and creative at playtime.
There are many proven benefits for schools which carry out the OPAL Programme. These include: more enjoyment of school, less teaching time lost to disputes between children, less accidents and greatly improved behaviour. Not only this, but research tells us that children who play outdoors move more, sleep more, eat better are happier and care about the planet more.
We have appointed 'Play Leaders' from Year Six to help support, organise and monitor play at Grove Road. This year our Play Leaders are: Lara, Taylor-Rose, Olive, Lola, Isaac, Tommy, Esme, Harrison Langer, Finn and Arlen.
We are proud to say that on Tuesday 22nd July 2026, we achieved the Platium Standard for OPAL play, the highest accolade available, putting us in the top 2% of all schools nationally with the quality of our play provision.
Sine our OPAL journey began in September 2024, we have transformed our outdoor environment. Our children thoroughly enjoy the outdoor opportunities that OPAL offers, with so much more for them to do, no matter the weather! From playing with tyres to climbing trees, balancing, playing in the mud kitchen or the sand pit, OPAL offers an exciting alternative to the standard playground activities.
Through this approach to play, children are not only more active during lunchtimes but they are also having the opportunity to further develop life skills such as cooperation, team work and problem solving.
What does this mean for us?
What is special about an OPAL Playtime - (see example of OPAL in use in another setting)
