Reality check for Christchurch pupils as teacher starts festive row

It’s one of the facts of life that parents know they will have to explain to their children at some point – a dreaded moment that shatters childhood innocence.

But when parents were confronted by their upset children coming home from school in Dorset, they were stunned to find out that a teacher had told them that Father Christmas does not exist.

The teacher was taking a literacy lesson which involved the children, aged eight and nine, writing a letter to Father Christmas.

During the class he told the youngsters that the man bringing them presents just wasn’t real – and the Year Four pupils were left devastated.

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Christchurch Junior School, in Dorset, has now been met with a stream of complaints from furious parents. One parent, who asked not to be named, said: “This teacher has upset all our children”.

Head teacher Simon Adorian admitted that the teacher had made a mistake following what he described as an “awkward exchange with pupils” after one of them quizzed him.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: “He responded clumsily and didn’t do his best. He was asked whether he existed and responded in a way, and with a look, that gave them doubt.

“He made a mistake, but we have covered it up, just as you do with children and they haven’t asked about it anymore. I have probably never spoken to someone who is feeling as sorry as this teacher,”

“He is extremely sorry about it, nothing like this has ever happened before, we celebrate Christmas as traditionally as other schools.”

“Children left the room saying to their parents that Santa Claus isn’t really real, which upset them, and that is the last thing I want.”