Hillmead primary school pupil Zachary Cliff topped the class in a competition run by Sky and WWF as part of their Young Reporters Competition to find the best budding young reporter.

Nine-year-old Zachary’s news bulletin on the best ways to save the rainforest received top marks out of 336 entries.

Zachary was visited at his school in Bishop’s Stortford by Sky News presenter Charlotte Hawkins. Charlotte Hawkins not only awarded Zachary in his school assembly an adopted jaguar in his name but also presented a cheque for £500 to fund a green project of the schools choice. 

As part of the visit Zachary took Charlotte around the school where she discussed with other pupils the issues that the Amazon rainforest faces and answered their questions about what it is like to be a newsreader.

The Young Reporters Competition run by Sky Rainforest Rescue (a partnership between Sky and WWF which aims to help save one billion trees in the Amazon rainforest) is part of the I Love Amazon Schools initiative. Which is is an exciting free initiative for primary school pupils aged 7 to 11 to help them explore the wonders of the Amazon rainforest, with a week of fun, rainforest-themed activities and Amazon rainforest facts for kids.

Cherry Duggan, head of schools and youth relations at WWF-UK, commented on the competition saying: “We were completely overwhelmed with the volume of high calibre entrants we received. We picked Zachary’s video because it was imaginative, professional and knowledgeable with an added character and personality”.

For more information on how your school get involved in I Love Amazon Week and have access to a wealth of curriculum based resources Click here.