Sir David Attenborough took a back seat to Powys school pupils who took on his role for a very special episode of Planet Earth this week.
To mark Earth Day on April 22, the acclaimed documentary series collaborated with BBC Children in Need to premiere a special episode, uniquely narrated by schoolchildren.
The children, aged between nine and 13, read from Sir David’s original scripts for Planet Earth III, which aired at the end of 2023.
The programme included 50 student narrators who were chosen from five schools across the UK, selected as some of the most engaged fundraisers for the charity in recent years.
And Pupils from Newbridge-on-Wye Church in Wales Primary School took part in the project, joining peers from four other UK schools.
Samantha Williams, acting headteacher at the Radnorshire school, said: “It has been an honour and a privilege for Newbridge-on-Wye Primary School to be a part of ‘A Voice for Nature’.
“I am incredibly proud of how well the pupils selected have represented our school throughout this experience and our whole school community eagerly await the airing of the programme on Earth Day.”
Pupils took part in the ‘Voice for Nature’ campaign, where Sir David invites us all to join him and speak up on behalf of planet Earth, when the school secretary took a call from the BBC reaching out for schools to participate.
Ms Williams and one of the pupils who narrated the show, Victoria, spoke to Behnaz Akhgar on her BBC Radio Wales show on Monday.
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Behnaz played part of the script read out by Victoria, who spoke about endangered green turtles on Raine Island, situated on the outer edges of the Great Barrier Reef off northeastern Australia, which harbours the world's largest remaining population.
“Half of all the green turtles in the Pacific come here to nest, as they have done for at least 1,000 years,” says Victoria.
“But for how much longer? If sea levels rise as predicted within the next 30 years, Raine Island will disappear beneath the waves.”
Speaking on the radio, Victoria added: “It was very exciting to be involved.
“I felt a little bit nervous at first but I calmed down and thought about how amazing it was to be on there.
“I’m a fan of Sir David Attenborough. He’s very inspiring and a really good person to focus on our world.”
Victoria and her fellow Newbridge narrators watched the episode as part of a special virtual assembly in school on Monday morning.
“It’s a very powerful thing they’ve achieved,” said Ms Williams.
“Thinking about the children having this voice out in the big wide world was really special.
“We’ve been an eco-school for a number of years and have a really proactive eco committee made up of pupils, staff and parents.
“These sorts of projects are something we always embrace. The children are always keen to think about ways to look after and save the planet.
“To have a real-life opportunity to have the children’s voices heard is something they and the school will treasure for a long time.”
Sir David has been narrating nature documentaries for over 70 years, but as our natural world faces greater challenges, one voice alone is not enough to speak up on behalf of the planet.
With Sir David approaching his 100th birthday, perhaps some of the Newbridge pupils will one day take over his mantle as a broadcaster and champion for nature and the environment.
The episode will air on BBC One on May 6, but is available on the iPlayer now. View it at https://shorturl.at/eotuV.
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