Bowburn Primary School wins OPAL Gold Award for playtimes

A County Durham primary school where play once meant games of ‘milk carton football’ has been recognised for transforming its breaktimes.

Bowburn Primary School, near Durham, received an Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) Gold Award, recognising the outstanding playtime experience pupils enjoy.

Headteacher Natalie Maughan said, “When I joined the school as head, I remember on my first day looking out over a playground, and seeing a group of boys playing football with an empty milk carton. And I thought: ‘This isn’t good enough’.”

Read the full story on the Northern Echo 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.