Hello! My name is Jennifer Saxby and this was my first academic year as Governor for OPAL, Music, Art and D&T. 

At the start of this academic year, OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) was introduced to Burlington Infants as a way to create richer play experiences for our children. Our OPAL Team have worked so hard (and fast!) transforming play at Burlington this year. 

This week, I had the opportunity to visit school during play time and see OPAL in action. It was wonderful to see everyone having fun outside in all areas of our school grounds. Children were enjoying a range of activities – from dressing up and performing on the stage by the Year 2 classrooms to science experiments and bug collection in the Rainbow Garden to constructing fantastic spaceships and houses in the playground and sports in the new MUGA. It was great to see everyone from Reception to Year 2 having fun, but also playing together so nicely.  At the end of the play time, the children did an impressive 5-minute tidy up and then made their way back to their classrooms! 

When we return to school in September, OPAL will continue to introduce new play opportunities to the children, and we’ll look forward to welcoming you into school to experience play time too. Until then, have a wonderful summer and a BIG thank you to Mrs Leech, Miss Biscoe, Ms Farr and the whole OPAL team for all their hard work bringing OPAL to life in our school.