Archive
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Consultation continues on special education
Consultation is to continue on the sensitive issue of including pupils with special education needs in mainstream schools. Last year, the county council's policy on including special needs children was criticised by the Oxfordshire Secondary Heads Association
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Children's artwork earns prizes
A colouring competition on the Easter theme attracted many entries from children using Berinsfield Library. Ken Hall with, left to right, Alice D'arcy, three, Nichola Sutton, nine, Dellisia Harrop, five, Matthew Goldsbury, six, Shane Stevens, eight, and
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Charity appeal goes mobile
A tandem bike and a 1930s MG sports car were used to help launch a nationwide campaign in Wallingford which aims to protect abused children. Annetta Slade and her husband Jon Annetta Slade and her husband Jon rode their tandem bike from Wallingford to
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Inspector to take charge
A newpolice inspector will take charge of the Witney and Carterton police area in the next few weeks. Insp Arthur Saville has left Thames Valley Police to work for the Police Federation. His replacement is Insp Darren Carver, who joined Thames Valley
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Players get set to thrill
Murder, madness, ghosts and retribution are all on the menu in Chinnor Players' production of the thriller Black Widow. The play, set in 1909, will be performed at the village hall from May 21 to 24 at 7.45pm. Leading roles in the production are taken
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'Breast is best'
Midwives from Wantage's Maternity Unit have been highlighting the importance of breast-feeding. As part of a national week of raising awareness about the issue, they are visiting shops and businesses in the town asking if they will agree to display 'breast-feeding
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Closed school may become nursery
Teachers are campaigning to turn an Oxford school due to close this summer into a nursery and community centre. Oxfordshire County Council has decided to shut Headington Quarry First School this summer after 139 years because too few pupils are enrolled
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May 21: Heartless decision
The Government is often accused of being too lenient in its handling of illegal immigrants. Yet the reverse is true in the case of South African schoolgirl Nthabiseng Moloi. She joined her mother in Oxford after her father died, settled at John Mason
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Pupils beat out a tune
World music and dance came to Hagbourne Primary School, near Didcot, this week in the form of live performance workshops. Pupil Tabitha Jacobs, 11, is pictured beating a drum with instructor Ross Moore The programme included African and Brazilian drumming
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Handheld device aims to speed up work on homes
Handheld computers for handymen have been put to the test in a bid to speed up council house repairs in Oxford. The city's executive board has approved the introduction of new technology for its housing repairs unit, Oxford Building Solutions (OBS), to
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Survivors doubtful about law plans
Government plans to introduce a new offence of corporate manslaughter have received a mixed reaction from people traumatised by disasters. The changes proposed by Home Secretary David Blunkett are likely to make it easier for companies to be prosecuted
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Don't blame us for rowdyism
We share the concern and annoyance of residents of Woodstock Road, Witney, following drunken misbehaviour by a group of young people early on Wednesday (Oxford Mail, May 15). We are assisting the police in identifying the people involved. Our investigations
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Fair deal for pensioners
I would pay our council tax demands more willingly if there could be a fairer system for retirement pensioners. How can it be fair to be left with just £9 from the state pension for ten weeks of the year when paying by instalments? In 1999, the figure
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New faces at PCTs
New non-executive directors have been appointed to health trusts in Oxfordshire. Jack Williams, of Henley, has joined South East Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust, while Kenneth Harper, of Priory Vale Road, Banbury, has been assigned to Cherwell Vale PCT
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Walkers seek kites in their prime
People are being given the chance to see the Chilterns' most famous residents in all their glory over the next few weeks. The red kites, introduced in 1990 and thriving, are at their most active now. But once the young birds have fledged, the parents
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School seeks specialist status
Residents and traders in Wallingford are being urged to back the town's secondary school in its bid to attract £1m of Government funding. Wallingford School is applying for specialist status as a Sports College and needs to raise £50,000 by the end of
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Schoolgirl faces deportation
A South African nurse is pleading with immigration officers to let her teenage daughter stay in the UK to complete her education. Sarah Motsemme, left, with her daughter Nthabiseng Moloi Sarah Motsemme, 46, of Nightingale Place, Greater Leys, Oxford,
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Low-cost homes needed in city
The number of new houses allocated to Oxford by Oxfordshire County Council in the structure plan is ludicrously small. Five hundred new homes a year nowhere near meets the demand for housing in our city. Oxford needs new homes of all kinds --high cost
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£100k school pool project approved
A £100,000 project to refurbish the changing area of the Kingfisher Special School in Abingdon has been approved by Oxfordshire County Council. The project involves building two single-storey extensions to accommodate a bigger swimming pool changing area
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May 19: Pushed off the ladder
For those people who have paid or nearly paid their mortgage, the rise in house prices may be good news. But for thousands of others trying to get on the property ladder, the outlook is grim. A survey today shows that nearly 90 per cent of single people
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May 20: Shining example
We are pleased to have been able to help Raja Hussain in his drawn-out battle for bathroom repairs at his Oxford council flat. No-one -- let alone someone who has heart problems -- should have to tolerate leaking lavatories. We are even more pleased that
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Lib Dem loses seat before he takes it
A man chosen by electors to serve on Witney Town Council just three weeks ago has been voted out without even attending a meeting. Dr David Morton, of Madley Park, was returned as a Liberal Democrat councillor for the town's east ward at elections on
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Jazz galore at Manor
Towersey's jazz singing Lady of the Manor and parish council chairman is ready to swing again. As Marie-Jane Barnett she is the chatelaine of Towersey Manor and chairman of the five-strong parish council. But let the music sound and she becomes jazz singer
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Advice given to businesses
Small firms in the Vale of White Horse are set to benefit from easier access to business advice. Business Link, which offers free help and support to new businesses or existing companies in south Oxfordshire, is to start bi-monthly clinics at the Grove
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Residents fear bus service cut
Bus users have been told they will not be left stranded if a company stops running services through their village. People in West Hanney, near Wantage, fear they could be isolated if a shake-up of bus services results in the withdrawal of Stagecoach's
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Working together is the key
Bells were ringing out today to celebrate the golden wedding anniversary of Clifford and Phyllis East. The couple, of Five Bells Farm, Ludgershall, near Bicester, are both bell ringers, and to mark their special day, on May 16, players performed at the
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Twirl team in whirl over good results
Banbury Cross Twirlers have achieved their best-ever results at the national baton-twirling championships. Pictured, front from left, are Charlie Pain, nine, Natalie Coles, nine, Corey Newton, seven, and Rebecca Coles, eight, and back from left, Suzy
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Robber avoids jail sentence
A robber who mugged a woman who was on her way to play bingo has escaped a jail sentence because of a medical condition. Robert Keene, 31, dragged his 58-year-old victim into the street when she refused to let go of her handbag. The woman was walking
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Firm plans more pubs
The Henley pub group Brakspear is planning to spread its wings. It is looking to buy more pubs outside its Oxfordshire and Berkshire heartland. The area between Brighton, Bournemouth, Birmingham, Bristol and London are being targeted. Brakspear stopped
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Boy has bike snatched
A 16-year-old boy had his bike snatched by two men in a car as he rode near Didcot town centre. The teenager, who has not been named, was not physically hurt although police say he was left shaken by the incident. The robbery happened at about 3.15pm
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Mothers criticise waste scheme
Mothers in the Cherwell District are unhappy at the prospect of their refuse bins being emptied only once a fortnight. They fear their green wheelie bins will be smelling and overflowing with rubbish by the time the dustbin men come round every two weeks
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Sale of Murdoch library to fund university research
The husband of novelist Iris Murdoch plans to use money raised from the sale of her library to fund education and research at Oxford Uni- versity. John Bayley, a former Warton Professor of English Literature at Oxford University, decided to sell the collection
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Pupils to stage reality show
A group of 10 students are staging a live Big Brother event as part of an arts festival. The St Peter's College students will spend 12 hours in a room fitted with live cameras while the public watch them on the college television. They will undergo various
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Legal cost threat leads to flats approval
Planners reversed a decision to halt the conversion of a three-bedroom house into flats, as they feared developers could be awarded costs if they appealed to the Government. Proposals to turn 2 Nicholas Avenue, Marston, into four one-bedroom flats were
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Savage gets new offer
David Savage has been offered a new deal to stay at Oxford United. Dave SavageU's chairman Firoz Kassam said last night that the supporters' player of the year has been made an offer, despite reports to the contrary. Savage told the Sportsmail the previous
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Testing is stifling our children
I was pleased to read that author Philip Pullman is talking to Government ministers, trying to change their minds about their obsession with testing children (Oxford Mail, May 12). Teachers are no longer allowed to encourage creativity in children. They
