to think you'd have to be totally miserable to complain about this teacher?

[SantanaLopez]

My SIL is 5 and in P1. On Monday Santa phoned her teacher (the ringtone was Jingle Bells!) and they had a little chat about looking forward to Christmas and being good etc

SIL was over the moon, and has not stopped talking about since

Some of the parents have complained it was inappropriate and there's a big stooshie about the whole thing now. I think they're mad.

Just sounds like a way of adding a bit of drama to the lesson. Equally I think teachers sometimes use puppets for story telling at this age.

So are you really equating Santa with other traditional religious figures (I do ... but I don't think most people would want to.)

I don't expect school to perpetuate lies - that's up to the individual judgement of parents.

May as well pick Santa as some other imaginary god.

No, I know that Santa isn't real, although St Nick has a history.
I just get tired of tiptoeing through the minefield of parental fussiness sometimes.

The odd thing about Santa is that a) all adults know that it is a totally made up myth and b) many adults insist to children that 'he' is real.

So the normal/accepted approach (in the UK anyway) when talking about religious stuff in schools goes along the lines of 'some people believe'. But when it comes to Santa even suggesting that there might be some pretense/fantasy going on and people get very upset.

I don't equate talking about Santa to other religious story telling because when my mother talks to my children about God/Jesus/the Bible etc (as she does even though she knows I would really prefer she didn't) she really and truly believes every word of it. It is really important truthful life changing stuff for her. No one really feels that way about Father Christmas do they?

SilverApples how would you feel if I decided against tiptoeing about (I assume) your parental fussiness in wanting to preserve the Santa myth? If for example I approached your children and told them that Santa was a whole load of phooey and of course presents were from your mum and dad/other people that loved them? I can't imagine you'd be best pleased (not that I have or would ever dream of doing so).

Uh Oh. This is "Santagate" Mark 2

Nooka that's really interesting, thank you.

But surely everyone/where pushes Santa? I can't imagine a primary 1/ reception teacher not talking about Santa to her class.

I'd far rather my school was peddling the Santa Myth that children are expected to grow out of (but is magical while it lasts) than the Jesus myth that we are currently having forced down our throats (that grown people apparently still believe).

Threads like this make me so happy that I teach in a secondary school instead of a primary. I think I'd get lynched by mobs of angry parents. I never realised there were so many ways for a primary teacher to put their foot in it.

My form do secret Santa (first suggested by one of my Muslim pupils) and I still pretend Santa is real - they help him out by getting the gifts, he collects from my cupboard and delivers them on the last day of term. They are 14 and look at me like I'm daft, but go along with it 'for miss' They also have a form advent calendar, complete with chocolate.

I feel sad that some people expect teachers to be robots.

The parents are complaining WTF. I wasn't brought up to believe in Santa, but even at 5 I'm certain I'd have played along quite happily.

I played along with the God nonsense 12 months if the year, a man in a red coat for a few weeks was easy.

Anyway he only brings presents. He doesn't make a complete and obvious balls up of everything in the entire world.

Our daft University Guild of students banned official guild bodies Celebrating Christmas.

The lovely Hindu student In student advice stomped of in a huff and returned having printed out a hole pile if 'end of term party tickets, with a large Christmas tree on each one'

Spikey

You are not wrong. I think you have to have balls of steel to be a Primary Head. Approachable and yet Authoritarian

Whole pile.

She was not impressed, she'd been in a beautiful sari celebrating Diwli a week or too before and thought they were a load of patronising jerks.

I don't like either legoplayingmumsunite. It shouldn't really be an either/or situation.

Many people talk about Santa, and mostly it's not really a big deal. The issue is that for some children what their teacher says is 'the truth' and I think there is also a line between a bit of make believe fun and where attempts are made to make Santa very real. For me phone calls and videos go over that line, and the school setting kind of compounds that. Grottos in shopping centres are usually fairly obviously a 'man in a suit' but I'm a bit on the fence about them. ds was never good at waiting in lines (or shopping!) when he was small so it's wasn't such a big deal to us.

I get that if Santa is an important part of your family traditions then that is what Christmas means to you, I just think that it's important to recognise that other people may have different traditions that are just as important to them. Christmas should be fantastic and magical anyway, Santa or no Santa. Joy comes from having family and friends close, from showing your love, feasting and having fun. There are many ways to do that. Children have incredible imaginations, children who grow up without Santa aren't deprived, they have just had a different experience.

I can still remember being at primary school when "Father Christmas" used to visit and give out presents. We sat in silence whilst we listened for sleigh bells and then filed excitedly into the hall to meet him.

Father Christmas was actually the headteacher and, even though we might have guessed if we'd looked closely, it didn't matter.....it was magical.

My childhood was fairly miserable at home and it's memories like this that I cling to.

Yes, BoJolly, we used to be convinced we could hear the reindeer land on the roof and then the bells... It was always our Headteacher too, and he was actually a vicar, so I imagine today that might really offend some parents.

I wonder if in this case it's more that the parents wanted to be the ones making the Santa calls and feel the teacher over stepped the mark. In my experience not doing FC is fairly unusual and not very socially acceptable.

Gah, keep the magic of childhood alive as long as possible imo. Fairies, elves, Father Christmas; bring it on.

The DDs letters from Father Christmas arrived today. Complete with a Being Good for a Whole Year certificate.

They are 16 and 20