A school has been forced to apologise to parents after a teacher falsely told her class that Father Christmas was not real.
The stand-in teacher at Hill View Primary School in Bournemouth, Dorset made the blunder while her class of 10 and 11-year-olds were making Christmas cards on Wednesday.
The festive faux pas is said to have caused quite the scene as the Year Six pupils left the school quizzing their parents to see if what she said was true.
The school later that day emailed a letter to parents ‘apologising profusely’ for the upset caused to the children by the Santa slur.
They said the teacher in question will not be returning to the school and they were ‘deeply disappointed’ by her actions.
But parents are still confused by what primary school teacher would want to ruin Christmas.
A stand-in teacher at Hill View Primary School in Bournemouth, Dorest falsely told her class of of 10 and 11-year-olds that Father Christmas was not real on Wednesday
The school said the teacher in question will not be returning to the school and they were ‘deeply disappointed’ by her actions
The letter said: ‘We are aware that this afternoon, whilst making Christmas cards, a supply teacher told the Year 6 children that Father Christmas is not real.
‘We apologise for any upset this may have caused you and your children and we will be contacting the supply agency about this.
‘Please accept our sincere apologies and thank you for your understanding in this matter.’
A follow up letter sent yesterday said: ‘Just to update you regarding the incident with the supply teacher, the supply agency were spoken to and that particular supply teacher will not be back at Hill View.
‘As a school we sincerely apologise for this and the supply agency also send their apologies.
‘Thank you for your comments and emails which have been taken on board and we can assure you that she will not return to Hill View.’
One parent, who did not want to be named, said: ‘Christmas is a stressful time of the year as it is, the last thing we need is the school ruining it by taking away the magic. It’s really not on.
‘What teacher in their right mind would say that to young kids? And how did it even come up? The mind boggles.’
A spokesperson for Hill View Primary School said: ‘We wrote to parents to let them know what had happened in a class that was being led by a supply teacher.
‘We are obviously deeply disappointed, and have apologised profusely to our families for any upset caused.
‘The supply teacher in question will not be returning to Hill View and we have made a formal complaint to the supply agency we used for this unacceptable behaviour.
‘This is a magical time of year for us at Hill View and we take care and time to make sure there are plenty of opportunities for the children to celebrate the joy of Christmas, including through the wonderful nativity by our reception children, church and panto visits, the Christmas Fayre and carols on the playground to name but a few.’