Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it’s superheroes flying into a school to raise funds for a soft play area.

To mark World Book Day at the National Autistic Society’s Radlett Lodge School, a superhero dress-up day was held with the dual purpose of raising money for a soft play area which has become too hard.

Fourteen-year-old Alan Johnson, chairman of the school council, who had the idea of using World Book Day to raise funds for the soft play, said: “It’s important to raise money for our soft play because sometimes children with autism get upset and need to go to soft play to calm down.

“The reason we need to change the soft play area is because it’s not very soft any more. I thought it would be fun to have a superhero day to raise money and help children in other schools learn more about Radlett Lodge and about autism.”