The school's eastern boundary is about thirty metres from the water. In 2018 it was about forty one.
The erosion is not the school's to fix and we have never pretended it was. What the school could do was stop losing time arguing about it and rebuild the programme around what remains.
What was lost. The playing field's eastern half, including the only full size pitch on this side of the island, two shade trees the children had sat under for thirty years, and the path that ran along the boundary, which was the route two thirds of the school walked home by.
What was done. The boundary wall was moved back nine metres in 2023 and a new path cut on the inland side, which was a safety matter rather than a sports one: children were walking within two metres of an eroding edge. The remaining field was regraded and marked for netball, volleyball and a short athletics straight. An arrangement was made with the island council for the use of their ground twice a week, which they give free and which costs the children a ten minute walk each way. And swimming moved from an occasional activity to a weekly one for grades four upwards, which is the one thing the sea has given us rather than taken.
What the school has asked for, in writing, three times, from the office that handles coastal matters: an assessment of the eastern boundary and advice on what can be done. Two replies received, both acknowledgements. Copies of all of it are at the office for any parent who wants to read them, which is as far as this school's part goes.
What we tell the children, because they ask and they have noticed. That the edge moves, that it is why the wall was moved, and that the measurements the marine club takes each year are one of the few records anybody has of how fast.