OPAL open day: Nelson Primary School, East Ham

See for yourself what a fantastic playtime looks like at Nelson Primary School in Newham, a three-and-four-form entry school with a relatively small playground and an OPAL Platinum Award!

Join us and be inspired as you observe one of the best school playtimes in the country. Here, children get muddy, play music, make sandcastles, scoot, build dens, take risks, explore, experiment, and achieve every single day.

Join us at 11am to find out how to become an OPAL school. You will hear from the headteacher and the school team, as well as an OPAL mentor with experience in many different types of schools. You will then have the chance to join the lunchtime play and talk to children and lunchtime staff.

This session is also open to staff from new OPAL schools who want to better understand the process.

Join us to first observe playtime and then take part in a workshop with other current OPAL schools.

The workshop will be split into two groups: one for new OPAL schools and one for schools in their second year or beyond.

The workshop will be tailored to the key issues facing the schools attending, but is likely to cover increasing risk, managing outdoor play in heavy rain and planning magic into your playground or playwork interventions.

11am–11:15am Arrival for NON-OPAL schools.

11:15am–12pm Introduction to OPAL

Hear from the headteacher and curricular lead as they share a summary of the impact the OPAL Primary Programme has made. This will be followed by an introduction to programme, led by an OPAL mentor alongside the curricular lead or headteacher. The session will outline how the programme works, the costs and challenges involved and how it can transform playtimes to be amazing for every child, every day.

12pm–1pm Playtime observation (Current OPAL schools arrive 12:15 pm)

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. See the mud kitchen, wheels and creative play in action for all ages.

1 pm–1:15pm Photo opportunities and questions

An opportunity to take photos and ask the staff questions. NON-OPAL schools leave.

1:15pm–1:30pm Refreshments

Tea and coffee will be provided; please bring your own lunch.

1:30pm–2:45pm Workshop for current OPAL schools

2:45 pm Close

Times are subject to alterations of up to 30 minutes. The week before the event, attendees will receive an email confirming the times.

Nelson Primary School in Newham has been developing its amazing playtime over the last three years and achieved its OPAL Platinum Award in November 2025.

It is a three- to four-form inner-city primary school with a relatively small very concrete wraparound playground.

Originally, it had two playground areas plus a quieter area with some climbing structures. The school has now added a sandpit, mud and digging areas, a big mud kitchen (with industrial kitchen units!), a scooter track, arts areas, lots of great climbing, swinging and nouncing and lots of other play equipment.

Starting with such a challenging playground, Nelson brilliantly showcases what can be achieved with a small area and a lot of imagination.

Nelson Primary School is a typical large Victorian London school, with about 14% of its children receiving the pupil premium and the vast majority multilingual.

The school is a short walk from East Ham station, has easy transport links and good cycle parking.

There is no nearby parking.

If you have any mobility issues, please get in touch with us.

Tea and coffee will be provided.

Please dress appropriately, we will be outside, whatever the weather.

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.

There are over 2,000 OPAL schools across the UK and around the world, over 250 of them in London and the South East of England.

Find out more: www.outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk

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