OPAL outside play - Mud, glorious mud.

[AaronPurr]

The school have just introduced this, and I wondered if any other posters had any experience of it?

I really like the fact the different year groups are able to mix with each other, and there's definitely a lot more for the children to play with. Although there's also a lot of mud and soggy socks, but I guess that's to be expected when we live in such a wet and muddy country.

Loads of the schools near here seem to have started doing this recently. I think it sounds brilliant and much more fun than just playing with their own year group at playtime. I like the way the older kids nurture the little ones and I think it's brilliant that the bigger kids are encouraged to play with toys.

Additionally I know from friends with older children that it's been a welcomed change from the playground being taken over by football.

I'm surprised there haven't been more comments, as it seems to be pretty widespread in my area as well. Perhaps we're in the same area? 😅

I agree that playtimes seem a lot more fun, and there are definite advantages to mixing the year groups.

It's also lovely to hear that older children are happy that the playground is being used for more than football. It's a great sport, but it does tend to cause a lot of arguments and dominates the play space.

Both my kids schools have it, though they all ask for wellies to live in school that the kids change into before going out.

All the children have wellies, and puddle suits for the younger years. If your children are changing before going out (and I assume when they come in again) does that mean the classrooms are muddy? Our school give them the option of putting them on when they get outside, which is probably why there have been some soggy socks.

The school claim they do it to keep the classroom mud-free. They have a little cloakroom to change their shoes on the way in/out. I think they have a yard they're allowed on in normal shoes but can't go on the grass where the play stuff is without wellies. (At least that's what the numerous "remember to send wellies" email I get for the first few weeks of term say)

What age are your dc?
my older two hated it. Almost no space left just to run around as there was stuff everywhere. They had to tidy up everything the other kids got out
I am not a fan of kids on scooters everywhere with no helmets bashing everyone else out of the way…
however my youngest (year 1) loves it!

I'm sad your two older ones didn't like it Notoironing. It's a shame their school didn't leave space for them to also just run around and I can see the dislike at helping to tidy up a mess they didn't make but I suppose that is a good lesson for later life and hopefully if nothing else it meant you had a good argument at home for if they left a mess for someone else you to sort. 😁

@Sprogonthetyne That's really helpful that they have cloakrooms, it must keep things a lot tidier. It just goes to show how every school is different, as coats and bags are kept inside of our classrooms.

@Notoironing I'm sorry your older 2 didn't enjoy it. We don't have any scooters yet, but I'm surprised there wasn't a designated space in your children's playground for those who are riding them.

@TwentyTwentyFive Tidying up is an interesting discussion. I guess it makes sense that all children are equally responsible, as there's no way of checking exactly who has been playing with what.

Our school are about to introduce it. They sent home a letter saying it would explain everything and it was a page and half of explaining precisely nothing. So I still don't really get what it is. Maybe that they get to explore more areas of the grounds?

Sounds like a nice idea. Not sure why it's an entire philosophy.

I think it's a good thing. I do supply teaching and some dc have a really dull experience of playing outside where they aren't allowed to touch a stick or stray off the concrete and others are smashing ice with hammers and making ten metre drainpipe courses for buckets of water.

@DappledThings So far at our school the changes have been

All year groups playing together

The children are able to go straight out to play when they've eaten.

Children are allowed to access other areas, such as the forest school area / mud kitchen

Wearing wellies and waterproofs, so they can get messy but still keep their uniform clean.

Lots of exciting things to play with in the playground (Water play, crates, den building, dress up, toys etc)

It seems far more enjoyable than my childhood experiences of being told to stay off the grass because it's wet. 😄

I work as a mobile school cleaner and to the outsiders it looks like the best idea ever on paper , in reality the schools involved in the opal scheme have no grass left just mud !!! The playgrounds are covered in a layer of mud !!! The corridors cloakrooms and toilets are covered in wet mud and layers of dried mud from the earlier playtime. The carpets are ruined and the dining staff are expected to wash table and chair legs as well as scrubbing the floors. This is expected to be done in the time originally allocated for the job or in reality done for free etc.
so yes a lovely idea but not a well thought out one sadly

That sounds frustrating Casdentwo and hasn't been my experience of schools using the scheme. Have you talked to the schools to discuss and implement ideas to minimise the mud inside? I'm sure there is a compromise between less mud and the kids just being left with a boring playground to play on.

That's not my experience of OPAL. They need 'better' grass if it's wearing out. Hard wearing grass. The children should be wearing wellies or other outdoor shoes and change into indoor shoes.

Our school have introduced this and it's driving me mad. They are constantly asking for donations, bribing children with prizes for who can donate the most. They sent an email on the Thursday asking for wellies to be at school permanently on the Monday as if people have money just like that (I'm fortunate enough I do, but some people probably can't find the money that quickly for an extra pair of shoes. My DC finds it irritating that there is no room to do anything other than play with guttering.

@Casdentwo There has definitely been more mud. However, that was always going to be the case, because the school used to be the type that had a wet indoor play if even a single raindrop fell.

I appreciate it must be frustrating to have more cleaning to do, but toilets covered in mud, and ruined carpets seems on the extreme side.

Thank you. This is genuinely far more informative than anything the school have sent.

It's not been my experience either. I'm pleased so many schools seem to be utilising their outside environments more. It seems rather daft after all to have outdoor space and not allow the children to use it or to only use it in nice dry weather.

I agree! Our school has / is introducing this and I've seen the word OPAL flying around but no explanation.

As a city school we don't have a huge grassy area so I don't imagine mud will be an issue!

@MissRachelismycoparent I'm sorry you're finding it a stressful experience. I appreciate it must be frustrating if they're asking for donations, but a lot of people might have suitable items at home and we all know that school budgets are already stretched coving the basics.

As for the wellies, perhaps you could suggest they set up a second hand welly bank. So those who have outgrown them can pass them onto younger children?

They use this at my kids school and it's been a big hit. It changed break times for my eldest and he went from feeling left out and lonely to happy and loving breaks. He told me he wishes they'd started it years ago!
We do get asked for donations but it's basically just anything they can use and no pressure. They also do Welly collections every few terms so they have some emergency wellies available at school.
It's definitely had more positives so far as I can see - although I'm not in a position to say if the mud is a problem inside school!

@ProfessionalTeaDrinker Oh what a lovely post. I'm so glad your DS is enjoying it.

Quite a few local schools to me do it, and I’ve only heard positives (from the teachers perspective, I’m in an education adjacent role). The idea is to give children more encouragement to play in a physical and imaginative way, as that often tails off as they get older. Typically football can be a conflict point, some children wont let others join in, they’re self-policing and getting in disagreements about who broke the rules, and football can take over a whole playground, giving children who want to do something else less space. With OPAL there’s materials set out and the children decide what to do.

I’ve heard it improves playtime behaviour by giving children more engaging play opportunities than just a field and maybe a few balls, and therefore less teaching time is taken up with mediating post-lunch spats.
Our local junior school has a big field and playground, there’s a sandpit, hammocks hanging from trees, crates, pipes, old suitcases, scooters, a mud kitchen, and they’ve also recently got a log cabin on the field to be a reading/lego/quiet play space.

@OperationalSupport The points you make about football are spot on. It's a great sport, but unfortunately it causes a lot of problems. The junior school you mentioned sounds amazing, and i'm excited to see what else our school introduces.