{"id":58,"date":"2024-11-21T08:50:08","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T08:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/?page_id=58"},"modified":"2025-07-28T08:45:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T08:45:48","slug":"introduction","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dev.webwisehosting.co.uk\/opal\/opal-programme\/introduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>So, what&#8217;s the OPAL<br \/>\nprogramme about?<\/h2>\n\t<p>Action planning<\/p>\n<p>School improvement practice<\/p>\n<p>Self-evaluation<\/p>\n<p>Change management<\/p>\n<p>Quality of play<\/p>\n<p>Playwork skills<\/p>\n<p>Sustainable change<\/p>\n<p>Action research<\/p>\n<p>Improve wellbeing<\/p>\n\t<h3>It is a mentor-supported school improvement programme addressing all 18 areas a school must plan for if they want to sustainably improve the quality of play.<\/h3>\n\t<p>The OPAL Primary Programme blends elements of strategic school improvement practice, action planning, self-evaluation, playwork skills and knowledge, and 20 years of action-research.<\/p>\n\t\n\t<h3>What is the timeline to complete the programme?<\/h3>\n<p>During the programme, your OPAL mentor will support your school over an 18 to 24 month period to bring about an entire cultural and practical transformation of the way that play is thought about, planned for, resourced and staffed.<\/p>\n<p>Are you interested? Take our test and find out if your school is eligible for the programme.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/onboarding\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTake our test\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t1<p>Introduction meeting<\/p>\n\t2<p>Observation and audit meeting<\/p>\n\t3<p>Development &amp; action planning meetings<\/p>\n\t4<p>Awards and final plan meeting<\/p>\n\t5<p>Reaccreditation<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.webwisehosting.co.uk\/opal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/green-curve-w-beige-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"green-curve-w-beige\" itemprop=\"image\" title=\"green-curve-w-beige\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading='lazy' \/>\n\t<h3>How much does the programme cost?<\/h3>\n<h4>A personalised 18 month action plan for better play.<\/h4>\n<p>The pricing depends on the type of school and location (UK or international). Please check our <a href=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/opal-programme\/pricing\/\">pricing page<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/opal-programme\/pricing\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSee pricing\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.webwisehosting.co.uk\/opal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Group-54.png\" alt=\"Group 54\" itemprop=\"image\" title=\"Group 54\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading='lazy' \/>\n\t\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.webwisehosting.co.uk\/opal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/white-beige-curve.png\" alt=\"white-beige-curve\" itemprop=\"image\" title=\"white-beige-curve\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading='lazy' \/>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.webwisehosting.co.uk\/opal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Group-54222.png\" alt=\"Group-54222\" itemprop=\"image\" title=\"Group-54222\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading='lazy' \/>\n\t<h3>Congratulations, you&#8217;ve successfully finished the programme!<\/h3>\n<h4>What are the next steps?<\/h4>\n<p>Your award status lasts for two years, after this you will need to reaccredit if you want to continue to promote your OPAL status. Don&#8217;t worry, you won&#8217;t be on your own, we have lots of support to help you continue on your play journey.<\/p>\n<p>You will need to do two things to sustain the quality of play in your school.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/opal-college\/reaccreditation\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn more\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So, what&#8217;s the OPAL programme about? Action planning School improvement practice Self-evaluation Change management Quality of play Playwork skills Sustainable change Action research Improve wellbeing It is a mentor-supported school improvement programme addressing all 18 areas a school must plan for if they want to sustainably improve the quality of play. The OPAL Primary Programme [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":56,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-full-width.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-58","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Introduction - Outdoor Play and Learning<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/opal-programme\/introduction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Introduction - Outdoor Play and Learning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So, what&#8217;s the OPAL programme about? 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