A YOUNG movie-maker from Fordingbridge has crafted a film about bullying and how to overcome it.

Now Oliver Robbins' film Sticks and Stones could be shown at the National Anti-Bullying Alliance conference, to be held in Leicester in October.

Oliver, or Ollie, suffered taunts, kicks and punches from fellow pupils when he was in Year Three at the town's junior school and knows how frightening it can be.

It led to him becoming withdrawn, so much so that his older sister Catherine noticed something was wrong.

Eventually, Ollie plucked up courage to write down his fears and do something about the situation.

"He left me a note under my pillow written in code and with strange diagrams on it," said his father Barry.

"The next morning it all came out that he'd been kicked a bit. He was petrified and that's why he wasn't saying anything."

Ollie said: "I didn't tell anyone because I didn't actually know I was being bullied.

"It started off with just verbal abuse and it got a bit far. They kicked me and punched me, but it never got too serious."

Once his father became involved, the bullying stopped.

"He phoned the school and basically it just stopped," said Ollie.

That was three years ago. During that time he has become increasingly interested in film making, using a camcorder and editing on computer.

In the spring, after consulting mum Caroline and his dad, he decided to draw on his own experiences to make the film about bullying.

With permission from Fordingbridge Junior head teacher, or "lead learner" Jonathan Hannam and the acting skills of a group of friends, plus dinner lady Jan Elkins, he started filming in school.

The premiere of the resulting 21-minute DVD was shown at the end of summer term.

Since then Ollie, who is now at Burgate School, contacted the children's charity NSPCC which led to the interest shown by the Anti-Bullying Alliance.

He has also entered an 18-minute version in a competition run by JVC in Japan.

Mr Hannam said: "The final DVD which Ollie produced was extremely professional and well edited.

"Ollie researched his subject matter thoroughly, he talked through how I would deal with a bullying incident and then worked these ideas into the script."

Sticks and Stones will now be used as part of Fordingbridge Junior's personal and social education programme.

"As soon as you tell somebody, the bullying will stop. That's the message we want to get across," said Mr Hannam.

First published: Sept 6