Our Clients

There are currently 32,770 schools in the UK. Of these, 3,714 are nurseries or early-learning centres, 20,832 are primary schools, 19 are middle schools and 4,188 are secondary schools. There are 2,408 independent schools, 1,257 special schools and 352 pupil referral units (PRUs).

OPAL works with infant, junior, primary, middle, independent and special schools. We are starting some pilot work with year 7 of secondary and this is showing very positive results.

You can find out where the schools we work with are on this map.

We have worked extensively in Toronto, Ontario Canada and several International Schools.

State Primary

We are often asked what kind of school OPAL work best in and the answer is always – the one where the motivation to change is strongest and the greatest number of people support change.

We have worked with many hundreds of schools, with every type of grounds and every type of demographic. The smallest school we have worked with is 35 children, the largest 820. Some have less space than would be legally required for a prison, some have so much they don’t know what to do with it. Some seem to be able to draw on huge amount of money, others struggle to get along day to day. We encourage all schools to aspire to provide the best possible quality of play provision that their circumstances allow.

The OPAL programme engages with the entire school community in primary schools. Although the process is led by a small working party, the plan encompasses governance, senior leaders, teachers, assistants, supervisors, parents and children.

We are confident that we can completely transform the quality of play each child has, every day in any kind of school that has children and a willingness to fully engage in the programme.

To OPAL Primary Programme

Special Schools

OPAL has worked with many special schools with great success. We work on the understanding that play is so fundamental to the nature of childhood that every child needs and deserves high quality play.
The principles of improving play in special schools are broadly the same as mainstream, but with some difference in organisational structure, such as the supervision of play being undertaken by the same staff that work in the classroom.

The main difference is in the practical application of the principles. Children in special schools will have a much greater range of abilities for self-regulation than in mainstream, and so the kinds of risks and challenges on offer and the nature of materials provided will have to be more thoughtfully managed.

To OPAL Primary Programme

Independent Schools

Hull Collegiate School has pioneered the way in implementing the OPAL Primary Programme within the independent sector becoming the first independent school to reach the coveted Platinum level OPAL Award.

Read a case study or watch a 3-minute video presentation

To OPAL Primary Programme

The results of the programme are best expressed in the words of the head of prep school in an article in the Independent Schools Magazine in 2021.

International Schools

Opal has worked successfully with American, German and International schools. Delivery is adapted for three two-day visits and supplementary online support. We have worked with:

The American School of Warsaw Poland
The American School of Madrid Spain
The International School of Toulouse France
The German School of Toulouse France
St Christophers International Primary School in Penang Malaysia

Please get in touch to find out more on price and delivery.

To OPAL Primary Programme

Secondary Schools

Children in years 7 and 8 are still children and so still need to play. The OPAL Primary Programme has been designed for primary schools but we are currently running a pilot project in years 7 and 8 of a large secondary school and are open to approaches from secondary schools.

Work in secondary schools will require a longer bespoke package, staff restructuring, a resource capital budget of at least £10,000 and a high level of commitment across the SLT.

The programme would require designated hard and green space for Y7 and 8 and supervision capacity of at least one staff per 40 children.

Parents

Our Clients

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