Divine Saviour Catholic Primary School were joined by local MP Dean Russell MP as they celebrated receiving the OPAL Platinum Award.
The OPAL Project is a mentor supported school improvement programme that addresses all areas that schools need if they want to sustainably improve the quality of play. OPAL provides the planning and evaluation tools to improve children’s wellbeing and develop their skills, whilst meeting play needs results in a huge reduction in behavioural issues.
The Divine Saviour School shared with Dean what OPAL playtimes are and got to see first-hand the positive impact these have on pupils, and how much they enjoy spending time with friends during the playtimes.
Dean spoke with some of the parents and pupils about how the programme has improved their school life, with more opportunities for physical activity, socialisation, creativity, and imagination. With a score of 97%, the school is providing outstanding play opportunities.
Dean said “OPAL is a fantastic way for schools to permanently embed a change in culture, and the awards systems helps provide a structure for them to plan for play in the future.
For the Divine Savour Catholic School to be rewarded a platinum award is an outstanding achievement, and it is great to see how improving play opportunities has such a positive impact on the students.”
