A primary pupil took charge of a Kent wildlife park after winning a county-wide creative writing contest.

Scarlett Davie of Hextable Primary School in Swanley enjoyed a day with the deer, bears and otters at Wildwood near Herne Bay.

The prize was a reward after she won a KM Charity Team Be the Boss competition with a piece of writing encouraging a friend to walk to school.

Afterwards, the 10-year-old said: “It’s been a really exciting day. I got to be the boss of Wildwood for the whole day. I’ve been busy checking the enclosures, checking it’s safe, watching all the animals come out.

“The otters normally sleep in the daytime, but they actually came out this time.

“And the zoo-keepers are really nice. I got to feed the deer, and it was just magnificent.”

Wildwood marketing manager Dan Farrow said: “We had a great today. Scarlett has been a great boss – firm but fair.

“She’s been looking at a lot of things around the site. We’ve got a new red-squirrel enclosure that’s opening in a few weeks, and she’s checked that – checked the foundations, made sure it’s safe, made sure the fences are working OK.

“She’s been looking after the animals, been feeding the fallow deer, keeping an eye on the bears, watching them play-fighting, making sure they’re not too boisterous.”

The Be the Boss competition runs throughout the year and gives primary school children the chance to spend a day in charge of leading organisations and visitor attractions in Kent.

The deadline for entries for the next competition is noon on Friday, July 1. This time, children are asked to write about which superhero they would most like to walk to school with.

The winner will get the chance to take charge of the Historic Dockyard Chatham for a day.

The KM Charity Team’s green-travel initiatives include walk-to-school campaign Super Wow, and are supported by organisations including White’s Transport, Ashford International Hotel, Orbit, Volker Highways, Countrystyle Recycling, Golding Vision, Specsavers, Eurostar, Three R’s Teacher Recruitment, Whitefriars, and Kent, Medway, Bexley, Maidstone and Ashford councils.

Watch a video about Scarlett’s day at Wildwood here: