015396 20510

EMAIL US

HEADTEACHER: Victoria Hudson

SENDCo: Betty Stephenson

015396 20510

EMAIL US

HEADTEACHER: Victoria Hudson

SENDCo: Betty Stephenson

OPAL at Sedbergh Primary School

Our Play Team are:

  • Miss Wilson – Play Coordinator
  • Mrs Abraham – Play Leader
  • Mrs Wilson – Play Team
  • Mrs Petyt – Play Team
  • Mrs White – Play Team
  • Charlotte Robson-Peall – Play Governor

We have implemented play zones within our outdoor space to allow children a vast variety of opportunities. These are ever-evolving as we work through the OPAL programme, and currently include:

  • Garden – mud kitchen, nature explorers, digging zones, water zone, calm and social spaces in our secret garden
  • Top yard – sports on a rota basis (including football, basketball, tennis), fitness trail, climbing wall, arts and crafts zone, story shed, calm and social spaces in the rockery
  • Bottom yard – trim trail, sandpit, imaginative play through fancy dress and small world items, lego/duplo, drama and music performance zone, tyre zone

We are always on the lookout for donations of items to support our play – please see our newsletters and social media for ideas of the types of items we would like.

Parent Guidance – Power of Playtime Play Policy

Learn More About

The OPAL programme

At Sedbergh Primary School, we acknowledge that play makes up 20% of school life. In 2024, we signed up to the OPAL (Outdoor play and learning) programme to transform our playtimes by carefully and strategically planning for high quality play. In July 2026, we celebrated achieving the highly regarded OPAL Gold Award, recognising the remarkable transformation in the school’s approach to providing high-quality play opportunities for all children. The award places Sedbergh Primary School among the top 5% of schools nationally for the quality of play it offers and reflects 2 years of dedication to creating a rich, inclusive and engaging play experience for every pupil. playtimes are vibrant, creative and full of opportunity. Children enjoy access to music, fancy dress, small world play resources, large loose parts, a mud kitchen and water play, all of which are available as part of everyday play. The transformed environment encourages children to explore their interests, use their imagination and develop important life skills alongside their friends. In its award letter, OPAL praised the school’s commitment to play, stating:

“This means that every child has an amazing playtime every day. It also means that play is taken seriously at the school and is given appropriate leadership, planning, evaluation and resources. Playtimes at Sedbergh are inclusive, joyful and provide a wonderful variety of types of play.”

The benefits of OPAL include:

  • A focus on a variety of types of play, including role play, social, imaginative, symbolic and many more – there really is something for everyone
  • Physical activity
  • Resilience, perseverance, decision-making and determination
  • Creativity, language skills and story-telling
  • Mathematical language, engineering and science
  • Social and emotional skills
  • Environmental awareness
  • Improved positive behaviour
  • Less accidents and incidents
  • More on task on return to class

Please click the link to learn more about the OPAL programme:

Amazing play, every day, for every child OPAL Play Charter

View Our

OPAL Gallery

See OPAL in action at Sedbergh Primary School:

Related Pages