OPAL, or Outdoor Play and Learning, is a school improvement program that aims to improve the quality of playtime and make children more active, happy, and engaged. The program is based on the idea that children learn through play and that playtime is an important part of a child's school day. 

OPAL's goals include:

• Supporting cultural change within schools 

• Improving the quality of playtime 

• Expanding the play offer in schools 

• Making playgrounds look and sound better 

• Improving physical activity, socialization, cooperation, coordination, resilience, creativity, and imagination 

OPAL is an award-winning program that has been independently proven to improve the quality of play in British primary schools. The program involves a series of actions taken with specialist support from an OPAL mentor. These actions help to embed play into the school's policies and practices. 

To encourage play in schools, OPAL recommends:

• Opening up areas for playing in all weathers

• Using scrap materials that children can play with in many ways

• Challenging the culture of risk-aversion among teaching staff and lunchtime supervisors