At Rush Green, we are excited to implement the OPLE (Outdoor Play and Learning Enrichment), which is designed to support better learning, activity, and socialisation, and, above all, bring daily joy and happiness into children’s lives. This programme is founded on the understanding that play is a critical human need and right, serving as the process through which children learn essential knowledge that cannot be taught, wiring the brain, building capable bodies, and forming the foundation for relationships. The OPLE approach enables our school to dramatically improve the quality of the play offer available by providing every child with rich opportunities to be creative, collaborative, and active in their outdoor play, within environments that are safe but challenging enough for development.

School’s that have a strategic play based strategy consistently report significant increases in children’s joy and happiness, transforming the equality and equity of children’s playtime experiences for everyone, including non-sporty children and those with additional needs. Furthermore, this strategic approach to play leads to improved behavior, with schools reporting up to 80% decreases in the use of behaviour policies, resulting in happier, more focused children and the recovery of more teaching time each day. Since past research has shown that 99% of surveyed parents support better play in school, sharing details about this initiative helps build stronger links with our community and demonstrates our pursuit of excellence in all areas of performance. On this page of our school website, you will find information regarding the OPLE project.