This lying to children is one of the things that upsets me the most. This article in the Telegraph is slightly OTT emotional for me at times but the situation described is horrible, and must be happening in lots of other schools. (I read paywalled links by quickly putting my phone onto aeroplane mode after clicking)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/26/boy-four-join-school-a-girl-grimm-nightmare-mental-health/