ADULTS with learning disabilities from the Middlefield Centre in Chippenham have been teaching schoolchildren about the wonders of animation.

The group of adults, who call themselves Animate Communicate, are based at the centre in Hungerdown Lane, and are currently in the middle of a six-day course teaching St Mary's Roman Catholic School's 80 junior pupils how to make their own 40-second films.

Middlefield instructor Helen Whelehan said: "With the help of the professional film maker Oscar Stringer, from Corsham Arts Centre, the group is showing the children how to make their own models and use photo animation to make their own films.

"It is a fun exercise and appeals to the children who are great fans of animation like Wallace and Gromit.

"But it also serves a more serious purpose, in that the theme of the films is bullying and in particular, people's attitudes towards people with learning disabilities.

"The children are having great fun making their films, making models, filming them and making storyboards.

"But at the same time, they are also learning that people with learning disabilities are not to be feared but are real people who can be fun to work with."

She said the Middlefield students are also getting a huge satisfaction from the sessions, because they are passing on the skills they have learned to the children.

At the end of the six-day programme, the St Mary's schoolchildren will get to keep their films and show them off to their parents.

The students from the Middlefield Centre will combine their films, with those of other Chippenham schoolchildren they have visited to form a record of their work.