Write a headline for this: With Christmas only a few days away, teachers at a primary school in Hampshire, UK thought it would be a great opportunity to invite the local vicar to impart knowledge about the festival, the birth of Jesus and related customs. The decision, however, soon turned out to be a mistake as the vicar ended up spoiling Christmas for the little kids who were robbed of their precious belief in Santa Claus. Rev Dr Paul Chamberlain, addressing a group of 10 and 11-year-olds at the Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School, said Father Christmas was not real, adding that their parents bought their presents and ate the biscuits left out for Santa.
“You’re all year six, now let’s be real, Santa isn’t real,” Rev Chamberlain told the children during the lesson. The pupils, who believed in the mythical being that imparted gifts to the good and obedient children through the chimney at night, instantly burst into tears.
“So he said, ‘You’re all Year 6, now let’s be real, Santa isn’t real’. Then he also was saying what Santa likes. Someone said he likes cookies. Then he said that, ‘Do your parents like cookies?’ And a lot of them said, ‘Yeah’. And then he said how the parents were the ones that were eating it,” one of the children told The Times.
“I heard a lot of gasps because they were shocked about it, so I don’t think everyone knew. We had this note that came in was saying about how he was sorry, and then we had these stickers and a customised bauble.”
Complaint lodged
A formal complaint has since been lodged by the parents against Rev Chamberlain with the school launching an effort to restore the festive spirit by giving out “believe” badges.
“We understand that the vicar of St Faith’s, Lee-on-the-Solent, the Rev Paul Chamberlain, was leading an RE lesson for 10- and 11-year-olds at Lee-on-Solent junior school,” a spokesperson for the Diocese of Portsmouth said.
“After talking about the nativity story from the Bible, he made some comments about the existence of Father Christmas. Paul has accepted that this was an error of judgment, and he should not have done so. He apologised unreservedly to the school, to the parents and to the children, and the headteacher immediately wrote to all parents to explain this.”
The school and diocese were collaborating on the matter to minimise the damage with the headteacher writing a note to parents for a sending time, apologising profusely for Rev Chamberlain’s act.
