Our school strongly believes in a holistic education for our children. We believe that all children need opportunities to play that allow them to explore, manipulate, experience and affect their environment. We believe play provision should be welcoming and accessible to every child, irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, economic or social circumstances, ethnic or cultural background or origin, or individual abilities.

The OPAL Primary Programme rationale is that “... better, more active and creative playtimes can mean happier and healthier children, and having happier, healthier, more active children usually results in a more positive attitude to learning in school, with more effective classroom lessons, less staff time spent resolving unnecessary behavioural problems, fewer playtime accidents, happier staff and a healthier attitude to life.”

Our positive and safe environment encourages pupils to be adventurous and take risks, secure in the knowledge that we will support them. By allowing pupils to learn from mistakes as well as achievements they strengthen their independence, resilience, confidence and determination.

3. Definition and value of play

Play is defined as a process that is intrinsically motivated, directed by the child and freely chosen by the child. Play has its own value and provides its own purpose. It may or may not involve equipment or other people.

We believe play has many benefits, including:

• Play is critical to children’s health and wellbeing, and essential for their physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual development.
• Play enables children to explore the physical and social environment, as well as different concepts and ideas.
• Play enhances children’s self-esteem and their understanding of others through freely chosen social interactions, within peer groups, with individuals, and within groups of different ages, abilities, interests, genders, ethnicities and cultures.
• Play requires ongoing communication and negotiation skills, enabling children to develop a balance between their right to act freely and their responsibilities to others.
• Play enables children to experience a wide range of emotions and develop their ability to cope with these, including sadness and happiness, rejection and acceptance, frustration and achievement, boredom and fascination, fear and confidence.
• Play encourages self-confidence and the ability to make choices, problem solve and to be creative.
• Play maintains children’s openness to learning, develops their capabilities and allows them to push the boundaries of what they can achieve.
• Play encourages children to be intrinsically self-motivated and empower them to confidently face different social situations. By its very nature this enables children to improve their oracy skills.