To think DD class should be allowed Christmas decs and music for the last week of term?

Elf on the Shelf isn't really an integral part of Christmas in schools! That's for home.

The teacher shouldn't be saying this at all. If the school has made this decisthey need to take responsibility for this, not put it on a child who has no choice or voice in this.
It sounds like the school are still doing whole school Christmas activities, and I don't think that being a CofE school means that they should be playing Christmas music as a trwt - most Christmas songs aren't Christian, or do you mean hymns?

I will say this though - as a teacher I have seen many JW children really struggle with Christmas, it's very sad for them. They haven't chosen their religion and they are told it's sinful to participate in any Christmas celebrations. Even at secondary age, it is a very isolating religion for children. I've known JW children pretend to have received presents so they can join in with the usual chat after Christmas.

So every class having a ND child, a child in foster care, a child lost a relative Christmas is cancelled?

Not a lot of Christmas around then.

This

Unbelievable.

JWs are a cult.. I feel very sorry for this small child. .. she is unable to celebrate something that she sees other children excited about. The school needs to stand up to her parents.

They all survived with no ill effects. I think it's one of those things that feels big when your kids are small but really in the grand scheme of things it isn't a big deal. The kid didn't choose to be a JW or a 'doomsday cult' or whatever you want to call it. He didn't get to go home to Christmas or Halloween. The class still got to do fun things just not themed around holidays.

The JW in my son's class goes elsewhere whilst they are doing Xmas activities. Although I'm sure the teacher adapts lots to be 'winter' activities.

He play on iPad in another class during things like nativity rehearsals, and is taken out of school on the Xmas party day and the panto trip. Last year none of the class did birthdays but this year the teacher has a birthday wall and they do sing, but the JW child leaves the room. The Muslim and Sikh children join in with all of these things.

I'm not sure what the answer is, but we can't adapt everything and expect the whole class to miss out for the sake of one child's cult membership. Although I also understand it's not the child's fault.

Why doesn’t the child just sit out while they do the play? That’s what happens at our school if children aren’t allowed in Christmas related things.

JW does seem a miserable experience for children, they seem to miss out on so much. Sure they say they do other things to make up for it but a child really just wants to be able to join in with their friends, birthday parties etc. It's just all a bit too culty.

Sounds really strange. It's the norm for any primary school in the UK to celebrate Christmas surely regardless of faith. Let's face it, most people tucking into their turkey won't have stepped foot in a church all year 🤷‍♀️ it's very unfair to make the rest of the class miss out on what should be a fun part of the school year for them, their time at primary school is so fleeting.

There may be something going on, but a whole class should not miss out on what normally happens for one child.

Unfortunately my daughter also had four years of not celebrating Christmas in their primary school class for the same reason, not even elf on the shelf and we're told the same reason by their teacher.

Get her noise cancelling headphones and let the other children enjoy the festivities

DD1 was Mary and a lad who is a Muslim was picked to be Joseph. They did ask his mum if it was a problem but she was pleased.

We are also a faith school with JWs.

I think it is more likely to be the distraction, and change of routine will dysregulate some of the characters in the class. I do not believe a teacher would say this to a class

But why should they?! JW is a doomsday cult.

My DS goes to an RC school as DH is RC (I am agnostic) and there are Muslim and Jewish students I am aware of but they still do Christmas and other Christian celebrations

Frustratingly - religion isn’t a protected characteristic when you apply for schools so they may not have a choice . My little one is agnostic, I’m atheist - all our closest schools are CofE… I’ve put her down for the nearest secular school but we’re out of catchment so I’m just desperately crossing my fingers she gets in and losing far too much sleep over it.

Has the teacher actually said
'We cannot have Xmas decs becasue new girl does not celebrate Xmas?

Is it possible this is a post to stir up the usual 'ban happy holidays it's a Christian festival' crowd or...

As others have said is it incredibly likely that something bigger than this is going on for that child and the teacher doesn't want to rub the forced jolliness of the season in the face of a child who is struggling.

She could be neurodivergent and struggle with the change to normal routine.

She could be living with or close to a family member who is very ill/dying/recently passed.

She could have been moved into foster care necessitating a change to everything she has ever known and the teacher is trying not to remind her that, at the age of 8 or 9 she won't be spending the Christmas holiday with her own family, giving her one space where she can avoid all the emotions that will come with that.

You don't say the teacher has also banned talk of birthdays as well, which JW also traditionally do not celebrate. So I'm finding it hard to believe a child's religion is the sole reason for her alleged actions.

This is just lazy teaching and not thinking about inclusion and how to include her rather than excluding everyone.

Decorating the classroom as a winter, snow, alpine, frozen theme and reviewing music choices.

she probably feels more like an outsider cutting everything out and the cause of the problem rather than making new friends

DD's teacher has said because of the new girl's religion
really? the teacher said that did they?

This is very odd. Worked at a church school most of my career and had several JW children. They just had to get on with it if I’m honest with you, as a Church school we spend a great deal of time in December talking about Christmas. Only difference is that when I give presents I always give JW children just a ‘winter gift’ not in Christmas specific paper. Have you spoken to your child’s teacher about this or is this all coming from the mouth of your child? I’d be concerned that it’s not really appropriate for the teacher to have said to the class that they’re not doing the festivities because of a specific child. We aren’t really allowed to voice things like that and single out children, even if it’s very obvious who the individual is.

So, am I right in assuming, as the JW child will be in the same class going up the school years, that your DDs class will not have any kind of Christmas celebrations until they've left their primary school?
That seems very harsh, so not just this year but for the rest of their primary school years?
No nativity/christmas activities/classroom Christmas letterbox/Christmas music/parties/Christmas lunch...

Maybe she is crying because she really wants to do the Christmas stuff but is getting told at home to avoid it and if she doesn't there will be trouble, I don't know how strict they are with it all but they have put their child into an environment with other children who are having fun and she isn't allowed to join in