17/10/2011 Inside Out West

Hello, tonight we are in Weston- super-Mare reporting on a crisis in

the classroom. Children here are being taught in school buildings

that are badly in need of repairs. Our biggest worry is we have had

badgers under the building. Badgers? Badgers. Also in the

programme: A tribute to the Gloucestershire teenager who

inspired thousands of people with an online diary charting her battle

with cancer are. You have a bad day. On the 400 anniversary of the King

James Bible, we tell the epic story of how it was first translated into

English. The fact we have the Bible

available to us in English at all is due to one of the most

courageous men in history. Save Our School!

The state of our schools has always been big news and public spending

cuts are keeping it in the headlines, but just how bad are the

class runs we expect an Asian's children to learn in? I am going

through the gates of one school where conditions have got so bad

it's governors have decided it is time to speak out. I was absolutely

appalled. I see for myself just how bad things are. Our biggest fear is

that building will suddenly drop. Just collapse? Yes. The man in

charge admits this is just the tip of a �32 million a backlog of

repairs. It is not good enough? it is not good enough. The

resources are not there and we are struggling. This is Ashcombe

Primary School in Weston-super-Mare. Ofsted inspectors say it provides a

satisfactory level of education to his 420 pupils, people like these

two. Their mum fears conditions are far from picture-perfect. If you

look around, it is worn. The building has outlived the lifespan

it was meant to have. It is an accident waiting to happen. They

are not the only ones with concerns. William Hunter became a parent

governor only a year ago. He was shocked by what he discovered.

thought it was fine when I first started taking my children there.

When I became a school governor I started realising the conditions it

was then. It concerns me wonder whether I am doing the right thing

sending them to be school. We want to find out how bad conditions are,

so we have come to have an unofficial look around. Pat Brown

is the chair of the school governors. They are sneaking our

cameras in out of hours. The pupils and the parents and the staff do

not know we are here. Why have the governors invited us then? They are

very concerned about the safety of the buildings and our ability to

keep them saved. Let's have a look around. Come this way. It first

opened 40 years ago. It is falling apart and has clearly seen better

days. It just crumbles. Like schools up and down the country,

children have to be taught in temporary classrooms. They were put

here in 1971. I am informed they were not new when they were put

here and they had a life of 25 years, which meant... That takes

you to 1996. They have been here longer than expected. And old

buildings being hidden problems, even steps can be a hazard.

original wooden ones collapsed before the end of term and there

was a member of staff on them. this was your home, you would not

live there any more? No, you would not. Why is this happening to the

school? Lack of funding is what it comes down to. Where has all the

cash on? Last year, the Government scrapped the �55 billion national

school rebuilding scheme. That decision caused outrage and protest,

but fewer people notice when a second major cuts took money from

the maintenance budget of every school in the country. That meant

direct funding for repairs fell from �559 million to �182 million.

In north Somerset, schools lost two-thirds of their direct funding

and Ashcombe Primary School was given just �8,000 to spend on

repairs. What problems are you having with the classrooms? We have

had leaking skylight switch because of the asbestos were expensive. It

is not unsafe, just anything that has got as best as in it put up the

cost of repairs. As they asbestos was not bad enough, the floor has

hired a major problem. I can show you our biggest worry and we have

badgers under the building. Badgers? Badgers. They first tried

to get in on that corner, but there is a piece of stone, so they tried

an easier route through the rotting wood here. I have got a torch with

me. Let's have a look. We believe this is one of their walk ways.

They have been under one of our oldest, temporary buildings.

According to the expert they have displaced about 7.5 tonnes of earth.

From under the temporary buildings? Yes, and our fear is that building

will suddenly drop. We took this to the National Association of Head

Teachers. That is quite shocking and those conditions are not

acceptable. We owe it to the pupils and our children to have a

reasonable place for them to go and spend the majority of their day.

They need to have that ability to be in there in safety. North

Somerset council insists that schools should be saved, so much so

it decided not to spend any of its own money on repair it last year.

That we have got our hands on a building report commissioned by the

school's six months ago and it makes for troubling reading. It

says potentially dangerous, widespread damp and rot, the

structure is significantly weakened. Half of all the items identified

need urgent attention. Where does this leave you? Very worried, but

as a governing body determined to get his work done. You must be

getting quite worried about the risk to the peoples themselves?

Potentially it is dangerous. Department for Education declined

an interview, but it was keen to brief us on one issue. It says the

funding taken from schools has not disappeared, but has been

reallocated to local authorities. I have come to the local council to

ask the man in charge of North Somerset schools what has happened

to all the money. This school, yes, it is in a bad condition. I can

find as bad elsewhere. But this is one school. I have got 100 sites,

74 schools including academies, where we are trying to work

together. We need to build new schools just to deal with the

birthrate. A few tens of thousands of pounds would make a difference

to a school like that. Yes, but a few tens of thousands to 74 schools.

The amount of money involved is enormous. We could spend �32

million tomorrow morning on maintenance backlog. For Ashcombe

Primary School it seems there is little hope on the horizon, but

they are not giving up just yet. Do you think there could be a point

where you say, enough is enough? Never. We are in here fighting for

this goal. If there is something you would like us to investigate,

sent us an e-mail. Later in the programme: The book that changed

the world forever. That is in 10 minutes. It was two years ago that

we first met Rosie Kilburn, a teenager from Gloucestershire who

was writing an online diary as she battles cancer. And I have got

cancer. Rosie made two TV features with us on Inside Out. She shared

every detail of her treatment. have got no hair. And of her fund-

raising fashion business, all with extraordinary honesty. The idea was

making it less of a taboo subject. Sadly, three weeks ago, aged just

19, Rosie died. Since then her charity work and her writing have

had more effect than ever and her family have asked that her wish to

make a third TV version of her blog goes ahead. From the start of the

year, Rosie was beginning to get physically weaker. She responded by

organising a huge fund-raising fitness event. Three hours of zumba.

I think people will turn up, but I have no idea how many. 30th April

and the doctors are discussing the next course of action after Rosie

suffered twice from severe, internal bleeding. I needed 11

units of blood, over a body's worth of new blood, in one day. If I had

gone to hospital any later, I would have died. Today, they can be

telling us anything from they can do nothing to major surgery. We

have no idea what they are going to suggest. But the news today is not

drastic. He said I could go on holiday. That is all I remember.

She has got more of the same for a few months or years. Yes. Much

better than it was half an hour ago. It is just death. I do not see why

everyone is so scared of talking about death because everyone dies.

It is not a unique thing. Just to say I spent today in hospital. It

was only a day, but still in hospital, not fantastic, just

because I had really dance shoulder pain. I have to log off now so it

does not hurt any more. And the dance marathon in one week. Can you

move that table to here? 28th May, the day a crazy's three our fund-

The doctors have said she must not dance herself, but Rosie never lets

cancer get in the wake of a good party. -- in the wake of a good

Hundreds of a knock-on effect supporters strut their stuff. They

are raising money for the Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre in Cheltenham.

There is an estimate that many have made �1,500. I am less tired than I

thought I would be. I feel I won't have to do it right tomorrow off. I

feel like I will actually be all right to get out of bed. So, I am

just checking in to say I am going on holiday tomorrow. She was

determined she was going to go. weren't so sure it was a guy deer

and had lots of plans for what we would do to get her back, but she

She recognised her limitations and accounted for them. We went out and

Because Rosie was so positive about everything, it was a massive shock.

It is also silly to say was a shock, because it was at the back of your

mind, but it was. Towards the end of that day, Rosie said she had to

write on a website and we got to everyone who needed to be told, so

she sat in here and wrote it and we sat with her and just watch this

absolute explosion of comments from people all over the world. It was

the most phenomenal feeling, and we had gone from feeling indescribable

sadness into suddenly feeling so supported, and she did as well.

Rosie's favourite charities called Hope. This summer she gave them

�1,000 to fund a sailing trip for children coping with the life

threatening illness of a close relative. I met Rosie and she was

replete with the work we were doing, and that is why it feels great she

could come on the trip. What she has done has been inspirational.

Rosie's health faded significantly over the summer. A hospital bed and

medical equipment were installed in her bedroom at home. She kept

writing, but found her video diary too much. Until early September,

when she filmed her thoughts. the last time. OK. I get a bit

breathless, but I will carry on. On Tuesday night I had a terrible

night. You would not believe. You would not believe it. The day after

she was fined, so although it looks like she's on her way out, because

she sounds and she looks quite rough, there was no indication at

the time that this was what the Monday 12th September. Cutting

straight to the chase, our beautiful, feisty, and we,

The aid was very, very peaceful. I don't know whether she knew she was

dying or not, but she was not distressed. She absolutely knew

that she was surrounded by people that love her and cared for her.

She felt safe. And I think she probably felt it was time to go,

26th September. Rosie's funeral. The day when hundreds of people who

followed her story on the internet came to mourn her and celebrate 19

years of life lived to the full. The thing that stood out for me

where people who knew her really well, but other people who were

coming up and saying they had never met Herbert felt like they knew her.

What a testimony to leave behind, I just loved the procession down to

the church, because Rosie liked spectacle, and that was a spectacle.

It was lovely, but so solemn and I think she would be proud to note

that more people than she would ever know about said that she had

changed her attitude to life. really believed in avoiding

euphemism and platitude. She very much did not pass away after her

serious illness, she died of cancer. That is very much how she wanted it

to be seen. That is how she wanted to approach things. Rosie's family

and friends have resolved that the website and fund raising will

And you can see all the details of the ongoing charity work on Rosie's

Finally, tonight, the epic story of a book which changed the world

forever. It is a tale of extraordinary courage, of a man

whose work as a translator was punished with death. Here is our

The King James Bible is exactly 400 years old this year. Among the

anniversary celebrations is an online invitation for anyone to

The idea is to present the whole King James Bible in an up-to-date,

accessible format. Not given to But the fact we have the Bible

available to us in English at all is due to one of the most

courageous men in history. This window tells his extraordinary

story. Right here in the building where I work at Bristol University.

William Tyndale from Gloucestershire, who was killed for

translating the Bible into English. I am going to set off to discover

what drove a young man to risk his life for this book, to try and

grasp the magnitude of this SPEAKS LATIN. Sorry, I got lost! It

makes no sense at all. Andy wouldn't have made much sense 500

years ago either. But in the early 16th century the Church only

allowed the Bible to be heard in Latin. And that is what William

Tyndale considered so unfair. William Tyndale was frustrated with

the clergy, who themselves had very little knowledge of Nat -- Latin.

He said he was Desert -- disturb the Latin they read in church they

hardly knew themselves which caused him on one occasion to say he would

cause the plough boy who pushes the plough to know more of the

scriptures than you, so he set about translating the scriptures in

a way that would be really familiar and domestic and readily

understandable by ordinary people. As an academic, I believe that

knowledge should be shared by everyone. Actually, William Tyndale

was very much a man after my own heart. Which is actually one of the

expressions he invented for his translation of the Bible, along

with, signs of the Times, broken hearted, filthy lucre, the powers

that be and eat, drink and be merry. He studied languages to an

extremely high level. Working in both Oxford and Cambridge. But he

began the gargantuan task of translating the Bible into everyday

English when he was working as a chaplain here in little Sudbury.

But the manor house where he lived is never open to the public these

days. And this tiny place of worship in the grounds tumbled down

years ago. So visitors have to make do with this small chapel which is

reputed to be a copy of the original church where he once

served. They say that the oldest stonework was brought here from the

ruins, along with the bell, which sadly was recast in the 1700s. But,

an archaeologist is never off duty. Look what I have just found. This

may well be the original clapper of the bell that William Tyndale

sounded every morning. As he continued in his task of

translating the Bible, William Tyndale realised his life was now

in danger. The church authorities had labelled him a heretic, and in

1524 he fled to Germany so he could work in hiding. Two years later he

completed his English New Testament, and the first copies were printed.

To get these Bibles back to England, they had to be smuggled illegally

by Tyndale's supporters. It was nearly 500 years ago when there was

such a need in this country for people to have access to Bibles

they could read in their own language. Well, today there are

many millions of Christians in various countries all over the

world who face that very same problem. To get an insight into the

risks taken by Tyndale's friends, we formed an anonymous interview

with a present-day Bible smuggler. But there are countries where it is

still illegal to own a Bible in your own language. Obviously there

are places in Asia, throughout the Middle East and the North Africa,

but to be more precise, what actually put some of the operations

at risk is the fact it is illegal to take them into the country and

the punishment can be severe. any of Tyndale's Bibles were

discovered they were, for there are now only three known copies

anywhere in the world. Until 1994, one was kept here in the lecture

room in which I teach every day. This building used to be the

Bristol Baptist College, and inside two secured saves, they scored

Tyndale's bible. It was bought by the British Library for over �1

million, the most they had ever paid for a single volume. This, of

course, is a copy of the regional held in the British Library. Look

how small it is. It was deliberately designed to be hidden

and smuggled and kept in the back pocket. But despite the attempts to

keep his word secret, in 1535 Tyndale was betrayed to the

authorities. A year later, in Belgium, he was strangled and burnt

at the stake. His dying words were reported to be, "Lord, open the

eyes of the King.". The painful irony is that within three years of

his death, Henry VII ordered that are translated by Paul be placed in

every parish church in England, largely based on Tyndale's original

translation. There was a delightful domesticity about his translation

which would have really appealed to the ordinary man in the pew and the

boy driving a plough, as he said, and they would have really grasped

something about what it was about. While Tyndale's words remain

unchanged over the centuries, the boy that drives the Plough uses

more sophisticated equipment these days. It is a tragedy that he never

lived to see his vision fulfilled. But eventually Tyndale's dream that

anyone should be able to read and understand a bible for themselves

A solo went out to sow his seat, and as he sowed, some fell by the

wayside and it was trodden down and the air devoured it. Some fell upon

a rock. I cannot help but feel that Tyndale would approve of our 21st

century Plough Boy using YouTube to spread the word. And other fell on

good ground and spread out their food 100 fold. Towering above the

Cotswold Edge at North Nibley is Tyndale's monument, but this is not

the memorial that affect most people. His real legacy was to be

the foundations of a global language using his every day

Gloucestershire English in this And if you would like to see those

Bible readings, they are now available on YouTube. That is about

it for this week. But you can keep in touch with what we are up to by

following inside-out West on Next Monday, with tuition fees

going up, is it still worth going to university? Alvin Hall does the

sums and works out just how much debt students will have to take on.