05/02/2014 BBC Oxford News


05/02/2014

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Good evening. A former member of staff at a

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prestigious public school in South Oxfordshire claims she was forced

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out of her job after repeatedly raising concerns about violent

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behaviour and bullying among pupils. Rachel Ashley says she was pressured

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to leave the Oratory school in 2012. She's taken her case to an

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industrial tribunal. Officials at the school deny any wrongdoing.

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Adina Campbell reports. The Oratory is one of the country's

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most exclusive private schools and so any case questioning the

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behaviour of its pupils was always bound to cause embarrassment. During

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the course of the past three days, the industrial tribunal panel here

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in Reading has heard claims of animal cruelty to birds and cats,

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and also allegations of extreme bullying among some of the boys. The

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claims come from a former employee, Rachel Ashley, who worked at the

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school near Woodcote in South Oxfordshire for three years. She's

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brought a case for constructive unfair dismissal, saying that she'd

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repeatedly flagged`up her concerns to senior colleagues but was told

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that boys will be boys and nothing was done. Miss Ashley claims during

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her time as a house mother, a supervisory role, she raised

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concerns about four boys. She reported seeing banned items

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including a bow and arrow, fireworks and other sharp objects embedded in

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gloves and claims as a resul she feared for her own safety and that

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of the children. On another occasion she reported seeing a boy being

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bound and then beaten by others. But while she felt the incidents should

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have been reported to social services or the police, her worries

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weren't taken seriously. She was even reprimanded by other members of

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staff for reporting what she'd seen. Today the tribunal has heard from

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the school's deputy head, Thomas Hennessy, who says he was aware of

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incidents of bad behaviour and that these were properly investigated.

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Recommendations on appropriate ways of dealing with such behaviour were

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up to the headmaster to enforce. The hearing continues and it is likely

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to be a few more weeks before the panel makes its final conclusions.

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An Oxfordshire care home's been issued with a formal warning to

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improve standards by the Care Quality Commission. St Katherine's

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House in Wantage was visited by inspectors at the end of last year.

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They found the centre falling short on five of eight nationally agreed

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standards for quality and safety. The CQC says there's no risk to the

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50 residents and the company running the home is taking action to address

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the concerns. More than half the country is

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overweight and Milton Keynes is one of the fattest areas according to

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new figures. It's in the top ten of a table compiled Public Health

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England, which used people's Body Mass Index, or BMI to determine

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obesity. On average 63% of the UK population are overweight or obese.

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In Oxford it's lower at 56%. In Aylesbury Vale it's around average

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at 64%. Swindon is higher at 70%. And in Milton Keynes more than 72%

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of the population is overweight or obese. Jessica Cooper reports.

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Lionel used to fit in these clothes when he weighed almost 19 stone.

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Within three years he lost seven stone. I just wanted to look normal

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and wear normal clothes and I feel so much better for doing it. I

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sometimes go around with the grandchildren and pay on the swings

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and things like that. When we go on how you holidays we go on

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everything, everything they go on, I go on. I really enjoyed it, it is

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like a newly soft life. Through walking and reducing his portion

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size Lionel has kept his weight down but new figures show he is now

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amongst the minority in his local area where more than 70% of adults

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are classed as overweight or obese. Milton Keynes Council says reducing

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the health risk for people who are overweight is one of its main

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priorities. People who are classed in that group are referred to

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services by their GP. It is planning to more than double the Public

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health investment to tackle the obesity problem. Weight loss is the

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main reason why people join this gem in Bletchley and it is where the GPs

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refer the patients that are on exercise programmes instead of

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giving out prescriptions. Over the past three years I have seen over

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80% of people who take part in the programme and complete their 12

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weeks make a significant reduction to their weight and in particular we

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have had a number of clients who have lost upwards of two or three

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stone in weight by taking part in this programme. Lionel puts his

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weight loss down to willpower. He loves baking cakes but never eats

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them. Winds of up to 50 miles an hour have

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been battering the Thames Valley. 8,000 homes were without power this

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morning. Sinead Carroll reports. Clearing up after one storm and

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preparing for another. The guys are clearing rubbish because it gets

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dragged in off the field and blocks the streams and the water cannot get

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away. Last night's storm led to power cuts

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for many. It is absolutely bananas, it is so frustrating. We are living

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in 2014 and we do not have electricity every time there was a

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storm or some sort of weather. The power cuts forced closures at

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Marsh Baldon school and pub. Cancelled already three parties for

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lunch and I have also turned away three groups for lunch and then it

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also knocks on to my staff. Power was restored by 2:00pm,

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Southern Electric apologised and says its consulting residents to

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make improvements in future. But with more bad weather forecast

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for the next few days, environmental and transport teams in Oxfordshire

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and Buckinghamshire are standing by to deal with any further disruption.

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A teenager from Appleford near Didcot has become the youngest

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person ever to row across the Atlantic. 17`year`old Eoin

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Hartwright arrived on dry land with a hug from his Mum. Owen and three

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other crew members completed their 43 day adventure last night. They

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rowed 3,000 miles from the Canary Islands to Antigua.

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Football. Swindon drew 2`2 with Peterborough despite being down to

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ten men for the second half of the match. The game involved own goals

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from each side. Swindon's Jay McEveley was sent off 35 minutes in

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for serious foul play. That's it from us for now. Alexis is

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on the way with the weather forecast. Goodnight.

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Good evening. A quieter night to night with a few showers but drier

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periods as well and the wind will gradually ease. We are expecting

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lows of four or five Celsius. Tomorrow there will be bright spells

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to start the day but it will not stay that way. Heavy rain will

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arrive from the south in the afternoon and stay with us for much

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of the day. The Met office have an amber warning in force tomorrow

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afternoon and night. Temperatures tomorrow reach a high of seven

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degrees. The amber warning is in force tomorrow afternoon into the

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early hours of tomorrow morning full `` Friday morning. Another amber

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warning for Friday and Saturday. There could be gale

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As you have just heard, the little respite between one storm system and

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another

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