Tuesday 4 May 2004

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.

Church help for migrants
Places of worship in the countryside are to be turned into welcome
centres for foreign labourers, a group of rural clergy has
decided.
The move is designed to help ease tension between local people and
migrants in areas of Norfolk and Lincolnshire. Rural clergy are
concerned that this could increase due to 10 states joining the EU
last weekend.
The decision was taken at a recent conference of rural
clergy.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 4 May page 8
Teacher who taped boy’s mouth avoids
prosecution
A special needs teacher who taped up a boy’s mouth because he
talked too much will not face criminal prosecution.
Ben Deacy, aged 11, was in a special needs class taken by Annie
Sturrock at Llanrumney High School, Cardiff. His mother found out
about the incident after reading about it in a school report
written by Sturrock. It read: “Excellent work – once I
even taped his mouth up!!”
The police have decided that there was insufficient evidence to
prosecute Sturrock, and that it would not be in the public interest
to proceed against her.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Tuesday 4 May page 2
Change in law on abuse urged after suicide
Friends of a headteacher who committed suicide after being
accused of abusing an eight-year-old boy have called for names to
be kept private until a guilty verdict.
Alastair Wilbee, the head of a school in the Isle of Wight, denied
sexually assaulting a boy during a residential school trip.
The annual conference of the National Association of Head Teachers
heard how Wilbee could not cope with the accusations.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Tuesday 4 May page 6
Welsh newspapers
‘Invest baby-bond cash in early
education’
The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy, said that
baby bonds should be scrapped and the money invested in pre-school
education.
Speaking in Wales, prior to the National Association of Head
Teachers annual conference in Cardiff, Kennedy called on the
government to give more attention to pre-school education and to
make a commitment to adequate funding.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 4 May page 5