Welcome back to school! I hope everyone had an enjoyable break and enjoyed the warm sunshine. Children have been busy sharing their news with each other and with us today and have really enjoyed seeing each other again. There is only one real change to mention, which concerns the challenge trail. Since Autumn 2021, we have been exploring how to best repair it as it was showing signs of age with many of the vertical supports starting to rot at ground level. We have had local authority surveyors inspect and contractors advise on the best way forward. Despite everyone’s efforts, it was decided in very late July that the plan to replace uprights in stages simply isn’t possible and therefore the structure needs to stop being used and removed. I explained this to the children today, that they cannot use the tower structure, the abseil rope or the ‘cave’ area and these have been boarded up to stop access. All the other areas remain safe to use. The plan will be to remove the structure at some point and we will plan for replacements. I emphasise that this is not due to funding – we had money available but it was simply not physically possible. Sad to lose this much loved resource but nothing lasts for ever and it is well over 15 years old. I will share news about replacement plans as the year progresses.