Outdoor Play and Learning OPAL

🧩 What is OPAL and Why We’re Introducing It at Our School? 🧩

At Isleworth Town Primary School, we are delighted to be part of the OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) Primary Programme — a whole-school initiative designed to enhance the quality of play during lunchtimes and playtimes for every child. OPAL is a structured school improvement programme that helps schools rethink how play is planned for and supported, so that play becomes more enjoyable, engaging and beneficial for children’s development.  

Play is a vital part of childhood and has an enormous impact on a child’s physical, social and emotional wellbeing. Research shows that children learn through play in ways that classrooms alone cannot always support. OPAL helps schools transform their outdoor spaces and play culture so that children can explore, imagine, problem-solve, collaborate and build confidence every day.  

Being part of OPAL means that we will be working with experienced mentors to develop our play provision over time. This includes creating a shared vision for play, improving our outdoor environment, introducing exciting play resources, and supporting adults in fostering playful, inclusive experiences. OPAL isn’t just about playtime— it supports children’s wellbeing, communication, resilience, creativity and self-regulation.  

We are currently in the early stages of implementing OPAL at Isleworth Town. This means we are beginning to audit our current play provision, plan for improvements and engage the whole school community in shaping how play can be even better for your children. As the programme progresses over the coming months, you will start to see exciting changes in how our outdoor areas are used and how playtime runs. We are hopeful and confident that our involvement with OPAL will result in more joyful, engaging and happy playtimes for all pupils.  

We’ll be sharing updates with you as our OPAL journey continues and look forward to working with parents and carers in supporting our vision for play that truly enriches every child’s school experience.