Did you know, children in British primary schools spend 20% or 1.4 years of their school attendance in play?

Our Vision for Play

Knebworth Primary and Nursery School believes 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 Approach

The Outdoor Play And Learning (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.”

Play and Learning

We are committed to play which forms the fundamentals right from our youngest children. Based on early years practice, we recognise play is not just for the younger children and play forms the basis of all learning. This is why it is imperative for all children at our school to experience and develop this whilst they are with us.

Our School Values

We have aligned our school values of Respect, Responsibility and Resilience with our desire for all children to leave our school with the skills they need for lifelong learning in an ever-changing world.

The Benefits of Play

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.

OPAL Website

Please visit the OPAL website if you would like to see more information: https://outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk/