{"id":7,"date":"2024-10-15T08:23:45","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T08:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/?page_id=7"},"modified":"2025-07-27T13:33:52","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T13:33:52","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dev.webwisehosting.co.uk\/opal\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>Did you ever wonder what&#8217;s at the heart of a <em>child&#8217;s development<\/em>?<\/p>\n\t<p>OPAL helps schools become places where an amazing childhood happens.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#\" role=\"button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWatch full video\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XZfrmY9tuCM?si=l0xGDIpxQTrQMnaX\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/beige-fold.png\" alt=\"beige-fold\" itemprop=\"image\" height=\"660\" width=\"3840\" title=\"beige-fold\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading='lazy' \/>\n\t<h2>Introducing <em>our programme<\/em><\/h2>\n\t<p>We created the OPAL Primary Programme to support better learning, activity and<\/p>\n<p>socialisation and, above all, bring daily joy and happiness into children&#8217;s lives.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/brochure-download\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload our brochure\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<h2>Why <em>outdoor play<\/em><br \/>\nin schools matters<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/dual-image-3.png\" alt=\"dual-image-3\" itemprop=\"image\" title=\"dual-image-3\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading='lazy' \/>\n\t<h5>Children in British primary schools spend 20% or 1.4 years of their school attendance in play, yet most schools have no strategic or values-based approach to play across all ages.<\/h5>\n\t<p>Play is the process through which children learn everything that they need to know that cannot be taught. Play wires the brain, builds capable bodies, and is the foundation of building relationships.<\/p>\n<p>OPAL&#8217;s programme enables schools to provide every child with rich opportunities to be creative, collaborative and active in their outdoor play, in environments that are safe enough for &#8216;health and safety&#8217; but challenging enough for children&#8217;s ongoing development.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/opal-programme\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOur programme\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n<h2>\n\t\t\t-80%\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>OPAL schools report up to 80% decreases in use of behaviour policies and 90% drops in senior leadership time spent in resolving playtime issues.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t\t2,000\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>To date, OPAL has run programmes in over 2,000 schools throughout the UK and has recently expanded to the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t\t30+\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>Most schools report 10 minutes a day, or 30 hours a year, more teaching time per teacher due to the disappearance of post-playtime disputes and frustrations.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/beige-top.png\" alt=\"beige-top\" itemprop=\"image\" title=\"beige-top\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading='lazy' \/>\n\t<h2>Is it right<br \/>\nfor <em>my school<\/em>?<\/h2>\n\t<h5>The OPAL Primary Programme was developed in response to demand from schools for help in resolving issues at playtime.<\/h5>\n\t<p>These issues can include boredom, high levels of accidents and playground incidents, lack of respect for supervisors and a constant stream of low-level behaviour problems, as well as a desire to improve the quality of children&#8217;s play experiences in school, and a desire by school leaders to pursue excellence in all areas of schools&#8217; performance.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/onboarding\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTake the test\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/image-homepage-children.jpg\" alt=\"image-homepage-children\" itemprop=\"image\" title=\"image-homepage-children\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading='lazy' \/>\n\t<h2>What does our<br \/>\nprogramme<br \/>\ninvolve?<\/h2>\n\t<p>The OPAL Primary Programme comprises of the following structured sessions spread over 18-24 months, or as long as the school needs.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/opal-programme\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn more\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<h2>What are<br \/>\n<em>the programme<br \/>\nbenefits<\/em> ?<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-curve-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"red-curve\" itemprop=\"image\" title=\"red-curve\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading='lazy' \/>\n\t\n\t<h4>&#8220;OPAL is one of the most impactful transformations on children&#8217;s lives that we&#8217;ve seen in the UK in the last 10 years &#8211; not just in schools, not just in education, but just as a way of making a positive difference in children&#8217;s lives&#8230; I&#8217;m in awe, actually.&#8221;<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Tim-Gill-2017.jpeg\" alt=\"Tim Gill and his daughter, Rosa\nnear their home, Walthamstow.\n12-08-2015\nPhotograph by Martin Godwin\" itemprop=\"image\" title=\".\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading='lazy' \/>\n\t<h4>Tim Gill<\/h4>\n<p>Independent scholar and global advocate for children&#8217;s play and mobility.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/green-curve-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"green-curve\" itemprop=\"image\" title=\"green-curve\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading='lazy' \/>\n\t<h2>Join the <em>OPAL<br \/>\ncommunity<\/em><\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Footer22.png\" alt=\"Footer22\" itemprop=\"image\" title=\"Footer22\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading='lazy' \/>\n\t<h5>Hundreds of new schools each year are discovering the many benefits of the OPAL Primary Programme.<\/h5>\n\t<p>Through our online platform OPAL College, monthly free online meetings, newsletters and interschool visits, we are building an international community of schools.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"\/opal\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJoin today\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did you ever wonder what&#8217;s at the heart of a child&#8217;s development? OPAL helps schools become places where an amazing childhood happens. Watch full video Introducing our programme We created the OPAL Primary Programme to support better learning, activity and socialisation and, above all, bring daily joy and happiness into children&#8217;s lives. Download our brochure [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7","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>Home - 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\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Home - Outdoor Play and Learning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Did you ever wonder what&#8217;s at the heart of a child&#8217;s development? 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