Amazing play, every day, for every child
The Power of Play
At Colwall CofE Primary, we believe that play is a fundamental component of a child’s development.
Through play, children explore their environment, engage their imagination and develop critical social, emotional and cognitive skills. It provides them with opportunities to experiment, solve problems and learn from their experiences in a safe and enjoyable setting. Play fosters creativity and curiosity, allowing children to express themselves and make connections between their experiences and the world around them.
Furthermore, guided play, supported by attentive practitioners, enhances learning by introducing new concepts and vocabulary in a natural context. By prioritising play in our curriculum, we ensure that every child can unleash their potential and develop a lifelong love of learning.
Why do we focus on Play at Colwall?
We recognise that childhood has changed significantly, and we can no longer assume that every child has access to full and rich play opportunities outside of school. This is why we embrace the OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) approach, which supports our belief that play is essential for children’s development.
On average, children in the UK spend 1.2 years of their time at primary school at playtime. We believe that we need to make playtimes the best that they possibly can be to ensure children are provided with the opportunities to develop skills in collaboration, problem solving, creativity, self-regulation, independence, responsibility.
Our curriculum sees playtimes as one of our ‘subjects’. Just as we prioritise learning in Maths, English or the foundation subjects; we prioritise play.
With OPAL, we believe that play teaches children all of the things that need to be learnt but cannot be taught.
OPAL is more than just a set of resources, it is a whole school culture. We have been working hard to develop the playtime offering with support and mentoring from Michael Follett, the founder of OPAL since July 2023.
Our children have over 6 hours of quality playtime each week. That equates to a full school day…that is why we want it to be the most valuable and of the highest quality.
At Colwall, we learn to play and we play to learn.
