New schools: OPAL school visit - Banks Road Infant School

Name: New schools: OPAL school visit - Banks Road Infant School
Start: 2026-03-25T11:45:00+00:00
End: 2026-03-25T14:00:00+00:00
Location: Banks Road Infant and Nursery School

Schedule

Wed Mar 25 2026 at 11:45 am to 02:00 pm

UTC+00:00

Location

Banks Road Infant and Nursery School | Beeston, EN

An event for schools thinking about starting the OPAL Primary Programme. Come and see an OPAL playtime in action and hear from the school's
About this Event

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?

See for yourself what an amazing playtime looks like at Banks Road Infant School.

Agenda

1 1:45am-1pm Observation of playtime

Come and see a platinum OPAL playtime in action - ask the children about how they manage risk and the grown-ups about the changes they have seen.

1pm-2pm OPAL introduction meeting

Hear about the school's OPAL journey and learn more about the OPAL Primary Programme.

About Banks Road Infant School

Banks Road Infant School is 12 months into the OPAL Primary Programme and is showcasing some of the best urban (no field) play in the East Midlands. The schools is also demonstrating an incredible wider focus on play, with continuous provision throughout KS1, full nursery integration within their OPAL provision, and two-hour lunch breaks on a Friday!

If you want to see OPAL in action on a small site with no field, Banks Road is perfect. Whether it’s building dens, making mud pies, mud sliding (if it’s raining), playing in the sandpit or simply being tucked away in the reading shed, every child at Banks Road is engaged in amazing play that they have chosen.

Additional information

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

Refreshments will be provided.

On-street parking is available.

Only two tickets per schools. If you can no longer come, please let us know so we can release your place to another school.

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: www.outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk