Cullercoats Primary School celebrates outdoor play and learning triumph

It’s always amazing to see OPAL schools in the region being celebrated for their commitment to providing excellent playtimes. The Chronicle ran a story on Cullercoats Primary School, sharing their recent OPAL Platinum Award.

Teacher Laura Linden, told ChronicleLive: “It has completed transformed the way children play and has had a huge impact on their mental health. This is reflected in a reduction of incidents, accidents and less learning time lost. Traditionally play stops after early years but it’s just as important as crucial subjects – 20% of school life is play so it’s important to be as engaging as possible and its revolutionised our playtimes.

“The children are happier, more engaged and it helps communication, resilience, social development and problem solving. The scheme is also really inclusive regardless of age or gender and we see children playing together across year-groups.”

“It’s been a wonderful project to be involved in and the children take ownership through their ‘play team’. and its now part of the school curriculum. Our school chant is ‘Amazing play every day the Cullercoats way!'”

Read the full story on the Chronicle’s website. 

About the OPAL Primary Programme

The OPAL Primary Programme is an award-winning mentor supported school improvement programme that addresses all the areas that schools must plan for if they want to strategically and sustainably improve the quality of their play opportunities.

Find out more about OPAL and book an introductory meeting.