Outdoor Play and Learning

At Combe Down, children can choose from a wide range of play opportunities.

These include:

Loose parts play
Children use crates, tyres, planks, tarpaulins, fabric, cable reels, boxes and other open-ended materials to build, create, imagine and problem solve.

Creative and imaginative play
Children can dress up, create dens, make stages, invent games, build small worlds, perform, role play and develop their own ideas.

Mud, sand, water and nature
Children can dig, mix, collect, pour, build, plant, explore and play with natural materials.

Movement and challenge
Children can balance, climb, carry, push, pull, run, chase, jump, build and explore different ways of moving around the school grounds.

Quiet and social spaces
Some children want busy, active play. Others want somewhere to talk, rest, imagine, read, hide, watch or be with a small group of friends. OPAL helps us provide different spaces for different children.

Ball games
Ball games are part of our play offer, but they do not dominate the whole playground. We want all children to have space and choice.

The aim is not for every child to do the same thing; the aim is for every child to find play that is meaningful for them.

Our OPAL Play Charter explains how we want playtimes to feel at Combe Down. It has been created to help children understand their right to play, while also thinking about how we look after each other, our equipment and our school grounds.

At Combe Down, we have the right to play and enjoy OPAL time.

We will:

1. Let everyone choose what they want to play.
2. Share our equipment fairly and kindly.
3. Take care of our play equipment so it lasts.
4. Show respect to each other, just as we’d like to be respected.
5. Keep everyone safe while we play.
6. Be kind and helpful to others.
7. Include everyone who wants to join in.
8. Ask an adult for help when we need it to solve a problem.
9. Listen to each other.
10. Play safely and responsibly 

We want children to enjoy outdoor play throughout the year.

This means children may use more of the school grounds, in more weather, and may sometimes get muddy. We encourage children to have suitable outdoor clothing, including coats, wellies and spare clothes when needed.

Wet play should be rare. Our aim is to support children to access outdoor play safely and sensibly across the seasons.

Rain, mud, leaves, frost, puddles and sunshine all create different play opportunities. With the right clothing and routines, children can enjoy the outdoors all year round.

• sending children with suitable outdoor clothing
• accepting that children may sometimes get muddy
• talking positively about play
• asking children what they played, built, imagined or created
• donating useful loose parts
• joining us for OPAL events and playdays.

• crates;
• tarpaulins;
• large fabric;
• buckets;
• guttering;
• cable reels;
• suitcases;
• dressing-up clothes;
• pots, pans and utensils;
• plastic pipes;
• den-building materials;
• clean wooden planks;
• old keyboards;
• cones;
• small world toys.