Current schools: OPAL school visit – Sussex Road Community School

Play makes up 20% of children's primary school life. How do schools plan for this 20%? What are the roles of the play team?

How do we develop our best teams? How can playtime support us to foster our school's values in all our children – resilience, courage, tenacity, kindness? How do children get their playthings out and put them away? What are the solutions to foxes and sandpits?

Join Kurti Birkenbeil, OPAL mentor and expert in improving children's playtimes, and hear from headteacher, Sarah Miles, and Carly Birkett, OPAL lead, at Sussex Road Community School. They will be sharing their experiences of how the OPAL Primary Programme has transformed playtimes and the impact that this has had on the school and the children.

Agenda

12:15pm–1:15pm Playtime observation

We will be joined by schools that are interested in OPAL and we will all observe how the school's play team ensures all the children have access to all play types in this urban playground.

1:15pm–2:30pm OPAL networking meeting

Meet with fellow OPAL schools to discuss the practicalities of developing the OPAL Primary Programme, ask questions and connect with others on the same journey.

About Sussex Road Community School

Sussex Road Community School is a two form entry school with 420 children. They started the OPAL Primary Programme in summer 2021 and finished with an OPAL platinum award in Autumn 2023.

Additional information

We will be indoors and outdoors; please come dressed whatever the weather. OPAL schools play outdoors in all weathers.

Please bring your own refreshments/lunch.

From 10:30am until 5pm there is unrestricted parking on the roads around the school. The nearest train station is Tonbridge (which is a 10-minute walk).

Numbers are limited so sign up soon. If you can no longer come, please let us know so we can release your place to another school.