Our Vision for our Opal Playground

In September 2023, Burlington Infant and Nursery School began its journey to improve our lunchtime play for all by working with a not-for-profit organisation called OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning).  We wanted to improve opportunities for physical activity, socialisation, cooperation, coordination, resilience, creativity, imagination and enjoyment through improved play.  The OPAL ethos is that playtimes should be active, creative and involve activities that are freely chosen and directed by the child. 

Why is play so important?

Incredibly, children in British primary schools spend 20% (the equivalent of 1.4 years) of their time at school in play, so it is a really important part of the school day. Through their play, all children encounter, explore and make sense of the world and their place within it. Play can improve a child’s:

health and wellbeing

cognitive development

social development

understanding of risk and challenge

resilience and character.

When they are really playing, children will use their entire body and exercise every part of their mind.

The OPAL 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.”

What does lunchtime play look like at Burlington?

On average, most Reception to Year 2 children get at least 45 minutes of outside play which enables them to explore all the areas and develop their play.  Since September 2023, the play area has doubled and we have various zoned areas.  They now have access to:

The Orchard (all year round- regardless of the weather)

The Rainbow Garden, 

The Year 1 Outdoor Corridor,

The Year 2 outside Area. 

The Main Playground

The MUGA (Multi Use  Games Arena)

The children are free to choose where they play, what they play with and who they play with.  

As our play space grew, we zoned the playground into the following areas:

Small World Play

Wheeled zone

Loose Parts

Mud kitchen

Music and Dressing up

Rainbow Garden Calm Zone

Chalk zone

Nature and Den Zone – Orchard

What are the necessities for great play? - and how you can help us!

At Burlington we need for your child/children to have certain things in order for them to be able to access great play every day.  These include:

The Correct Clothing - “There's no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.” Alfred Wainwright.

Things to play with.

Having a certain amount of freedom.

We need your help to make this possible!

The Correct Clothing

A waterproof coat with a hood – We go outside in the rain, cold and mud 

A hat for hot or cold days.  

Gloves and a scarf, if very cold

Waterproof trousers and wellington boots – We have a wellington cupboard which your child has access to and they can borrow them whenever they wish.  Donations are always gratefully appreciated.

Things to play with (loose parts)

We are always grateful for donations.  Please see below as to what we are collecting.

Fabricated Loose Parts (see list A) are anything man-made that is not a toy or a specific piece of sports equipment. 

Natural Loose Parts (see list B) is any moveable natural material that children can transport, mix, and construct with or incorporate into their play. 

Any loose parts donations should be dropped outside in the green container before the Small Hall steps', or alternatively, small donations can be dropped into the school office. Whilst we will thoroughly check all items to ensure their safety, it would be appreciated if you could check that the items are safe enough to play with, i.e. pockets and bags should all be cleared out, cables cut off, and all batteries removed. We are also looking for small-world toys. E.g. cars, dinosaurs, farm animals or other small figures so that the children can also play with these

We are specifically looking for:

Donation Items for OPAL

If you would like to learn more about the OPAL Primary Programme, please have a look at the OPAL website (www.outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk), where you will find lots of useful information and several videos about the programme.

News and Events

Spring Term 2025 Newsletter

Reception joining OPAL - Spring 2025

Welcome letter to OPAL - Reception 2025

Opal Play Detectives

In January, we announced in assembly who are our new Opal Play Detectives would be. During the Autumn Term, Year 2 were given the opportunity to apply for the role. In an OPAL assembly the children were told about what their role would be. Some of the tasks the OPAL detectives will undertake are: celebrating great play by using the OPAL iPad, supporting other children in their play and helping Mrs Leech, Ms Farr, Miss Biscoe and the Play Team develop the play experiences. Congratulations to Naila and Henry in Venus, Andrea and Casey in Saturn, Maythage and Alexander in Mercury and Ada and Hyomin in Jupiter. The whole play team and myself are looking forward to working with you!