An Oxford schoolgirl has been plucked from thousands of hopefuls and named a finalist in an anti-bullying competition.

Harriet Ball’s colourful redesign of Joseph’s Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is one of seven entries picked nationally to be worn in the West End musical.

The 10-year-old from Sandford-on-Thames, along with 19 of her classmates at Marsh Baldon Primary School, took pen, pencil and crayon to paper to enter the CUT-it-Out competition.

Back in September, the Vodafone-backed campaign challenged children across the country to redesign the famous coat using the theme of bullying, an issue the school said it placed at the heart of every lesson.

The seven designs in the final will be made into real coats and one will be worn by the star of the show, Lee Mead, every day during anti-bullying week, which runs from November 17.

Their creators also get 10 tickets to go and see the performance at The Adelphi Theatre in London.

The overall winner of the online poll will meet the star.

Teacher Isobel Bamford, encouraged the children to enter, collected their efforts and posted them into the competition, run in teen magazine Bliss, just in time for the deadline.

She said: “I didn’t really think we would be picked just because we are such a small school.

“But then Harriet came bounding into class one day and told me she had reached the final. She is over the moon that she will be seeing the show and is absolutely desperate to meet Lee Mead, so we really hope people will vote for her and make her dream come true.”

The 60-pupil school prides itself on tackling bullying by prevention, rather than cure.

A ‘bully box’ is placed in every classroom so if children feel they are being badly treated by another member of the school they can write a note to the teacher who will read it and address it discreetly.

They also hold discussion sessions where they talk about why people bully, and how it feels to be a victim of intimidation.

Harriet said she hoped the classes, which inspired her design, will pay off once again and help her to meet her hero.

She said: “All of my friends are really excited for me.

“I have never really been bullied but we talk about what to do if it happens at school and how it feels.

“I want to be an actor and singer, like Lee, so I really, really hope I win and meet him.”

To vote for Harriet’s design go to mybliss.co.uk/joseph and vote for number five.

The competition ends on Monday. The winner will be announced later the same day.