Primary school pupils handed £100 in shopping vouchers - for attending class every day

A Teesside school has tested a new approach to improving attendance levels - giving £100 shopping vouchers to pupils who did not miss a day.

Youngsters at Roseberry Primary School in Billingham who had gained 100% attendance throughout the past year were each give a £100 gift voucher.

During an end of year awards ceremony last week, 11 children at the school were presented with the vouchers in recognition of their attendance.

Headteacher, Maggie Fearnley said: “We know how important it is for children to be in school so that they progress, reach their full potential and as a result widen their future prospects and choices.”

The money for the vouchers was funded by the school’s annual budget.

The new approach came about after attendance levels at the school were recognised as a problem which needed to be addressed.

Ms Fearnley said: “In our last Ofsted inspection, attendance at school was highlighted as a concern and this is one of a range of measures we have introduced to try and drive attendance up.”

It is hoped that end of year awards like this will act as an incentive for the children to go to school during the next academic year.

She added: “Our record is getting better, last year attendance was below the national average and now it is in line with it.

"We are piloting various approaches, which we are continuously reviewing, to further this improvement.”

'I couldn’t just stand and watch': Mum helps tackle shoplifter in Tesco car park

A Teesside mum has been praised after she helped restrain a shoplifter who was attacking a security guard outside a supermarket.

Stacey McCreesh was driving into the car park of Tesco, in Billingham, when she saw a female security guard struggling to restrain a young shoplifter.

Mrs McCreesh, from Billingham, stopped her car and ran to help - pinning the 16-year-old female shoplifter down.

She said: “I had my two children in the car at the time but I couldn’t just stand and watch.

The shoplifter was being quite aggressive and at one point I saw her bite the security guard.

"I’m not one to let something like that happen and not help.”

The police were called and the 16-year-old was arrested on suspicion of theft and assault.

She had stolen £250 worth of goods. The girl was subsequently given a caution.

Mrs McCreesh had her two young children, Drew, three, and Samuel, two, in the car when the incident happened on Monday at 2pm.

“I had just driven into the car park when I could see the security guard and the young girl in some sort of scuffle," said the 32-year-old.

“I saw the shoplifter trying to throw a punch. I slowed down and the security guard was trying to restrain her.

"She seemed to have her restrained but then the girl started biting her and digging her nails into her skin.

“One of the managers from inside had come out to help too.

“I got out and went to help. The girl was trying to bite me too. She was in a state and desperate to get away.

“It was awful because my youngest son was getting upset and was crying his eyes out.

“At one point the girl tried to get away and crawled under my car. I grabbed her and pinned her down.

“She kept trying to get away and was digging her fingers into us. At one point she spat at us.

“It felt like it went on for ages.

“The security guard was quite shaken and she had to go to hospital.”

Mrs McCreesh, who has two other children - Declan, 14, and Ashton, seven, said the staff thanked her and gave her some flowers and her children some chocolate.

A spokesman for Tesco said: “The security guard and service manager went above and beyond and restrained a shoplifted who had stolen £250 worth of goods.

“We are very appreciative of Stacey’s actions and we gave her some flowers and her children some chocolate to thank her for what she did.”

Live: Updates following the Malaysia Airlines crash as anger grows over "disrespectful" treatment of bodies by rebels

Join us on social media.

For the latest local news straight to your Twitter, Facebook feed or e-mail inbox.

Facebook

Evening Gazette

Gazette People

Twitter

@EveningGazette

@GazetteCourt

@Gazettepeople

@Gazettebusiness

@EGazetteSport

The Editor

Chris Styles

Editor, Evening Gazette

Email

chris.styles@trinitymirror.com

Twitter

@chrisstyles16

Chris was appointed editor of the Evening Gazette in January 2012. He is also a former Gazette news editor. Chris has more than 20 years experience as a journalist and has previously worked in senior positions in Newcastle, Exeter and Nottingham.

181 bodies recovered at MH17 crash site

KIEV/ MELBOURNE/THE HAGUE: Rescuers have recovered as many as 181 bodies so far at the site of the Malaysian airliner crash in eastern Ukraine, an official at Kiev’s Foreign Ministry told a briefing on Friday. The Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 was downed near the Russian border on Thursday, an area where pro-Moscow separatists have been fighting Ukrainian government forces since April. All 298 people on board of the plane were pronounced dead.

Andriy Sibiga said the bodies would probably be transported to the nearby Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, which is under the control of the central government.

Separatists have agreed to provide assistance to those investigating the crash of the plane and will ensure safe access for international experts visiting the site, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said. The world AIDS community was in mourning Friday with as many as 100 passengers reportedly on a crashed Malaysia Airlines plane heading to Australia for a global conference on the epidemic.

Besides AIDS researchers, the international passengers included soccer fans, a nun and a florist. Relatives, friends and colleagues paid tribute Friday to victims even before the airline released their names as it scrambled to contact the next of kin of the victims.

Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, which US officials believe was hit by a surface-to-air missile over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board, was due to connect with another flight to Melbourne. The Sydney Morning Herald said as many as 100 of those who died were delegates en route to Melbourne for the 20th International AIDS Conference, which is due to begin on Sunday.

The Australian broadsheet reported 108 attendees and family members were killed, including prominent former International AIDS Society president Joep Lange

Turkish Protestors Just Took The Israeli Embassy, Raised Palestinian Flag…

The Turkish people took to the streets in support of the Gazan civilians being attacked by the Israeli Defense Forces.

Only hours after Israel announce a ground offensive in Gazan, protestors in Istanbul stormed the gates of the Israeli embassy in Turkey.

As we speak, the Israeli embassy is burning. The extent of the damage is not yet confirmed.

The protestors have replaced the Israeli flag with the Palestinian flag.

Turkish police today fired tear gas at protesters outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, as demonstrators pelted the building with stones in condemnation of Israel’s ground offensive on Gaza

According to local media reports, the crowd chanted “Murderer Israel, get out of Palestine”, as they smashed windows, while anti-Jewish graffiti was scrawled across one of the building’s walls

Meanwhile, in the capital Ankara, demonstrators waved Turkish and Palestinian flags outside the Israeli embassy and chanted slogans. Windows were broken but police reportedly did not intervene.

Earlier in the week, Turkish newspaper the Daily Sabah reported that protesters left a black wreath at the embassy’s gate in Ankara and held a banner declaring: “Israel is killing again.”

And in Istanbul, activists gathered in the popular tourist spot Sultan Ahmet Square, to hand out pamphlets disparaging Israeli politics in Gaza.

17 imams face probe for ‘not condemning Sharura raid’

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs is investigating 17 imams in Riyadh for allegedly ignoring a government order to highlight and condemn the recent Sharura terror attack in their Friday sermons.

Most imams across the country had highlighted the incident and the dangers of terrorism in their Friday sermons, as ordered by the ministry.

The ministry stated on Friday that it would penalize the imams if the allegations are proven true.

Tawfiq Al-Sudairi, the ministry’s undersecretary, confirmed that 17 imams at mosques in Riyadh are under investigation for allegedly failing to highlight the incident in their sermons.

A Saudi newspaper, meanwhile, reported that 100 imams across the country allegedly ignored the ministry’s order to condemn the Sharura attacks.

Al-Sheikh Salman Al-Hadi, an imam in Jeddah, told Arab News that religious leaders play an important role in creating awareness of terrorist activities in the country.

He said people should be particularly aware of those who “deceive the young and convince them to fight against their country and society.”

The incident in the Kingdom’s southern governorate of Sharura took place two weeks ago when Al-Qaeda militants attacked the Wadia Saudi border post along the Yemeni border.

The terrorists killed the Saudi commander. Saudi security officers killed three of the assailants, and shot and captured two others.

This attack was preceded by an assault on the Yemeni side of the border post with the terrorists detonating a car bomb killing one Yemeni soldier and wounding another.

The suspected Al-Qaeda assailants were seeking to infiltrate Saudi Arabia from Yemen, possibly with the intention of carrying out further terrorist attacks.

Saudi security forces seized machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades from the vehicles used by the assailants.

Iraq ISIL terrorists asks Christians told to convert or Pay Jizya

The Islamic State group has threatened Christians in the Iraqi city of Mosul with death if they do not to convert to Islam or pay a tax, Al Jazeera has learned.

The Sunni rebel group issued the orders in a letter after Friday prayers. The document, obtained by Al Jazeera, states that the order was issued after Christian leaders failed to attend a meeting called by the group.

In response, the group says in the letter that Christians must either convert to Islam, pay a special tax on non-Muslims known as jiziya, or face death “as a last resort”.

Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, was overrun by the Islamic State group and allied rebel groups last month

The Iraqi army units stationed in the city, most of whom were Shia, fled after the group crossed from Syria and attacked the north of Iraq.

Before the attack, Mosul’s Christian community was estimated at 3,000. Many are believed to have already fled the city as part of an exodus of up to one-third of the population. Churches and Christian-owned shops in the city were reported smashed by those who fled.

The Islamic State’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, held a sermon in Mosul’s grand mosque two weeks ago, calling on all Muslims to unite behind his group.

The Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, has issued similar demands in areas in control in Syria, and has posted pictures of Christians being crucified for disobeying orders in Raqqa.

Church leader‎s in Iraq have not responded to the threats officially.

Nickolay Mladenov, the head of the UN assistance mission In Iraq, condemned the order.

“Any persecution of minorities constitutes a crime against humanity and we urge all sides to protect civilians. We have produced a report listing attacks on civilians ‎and have brought this up at the highest levels of the Iraqi government.”