A vicar at a Hampshire primary school has apologised after accidentally “ruining” Christmas by telling children Santa wasn’t real.
Rev Dr Paul Chamberlain was invited to give a talk to a group of ten and eleven-year-olds on Christmas at Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School where he reportedly told them Father Christmas was not real and that their parents bought their presents and ate the biscuits left out on Christmas Eve.
Parents have since complained, with the school issuing an apology over the “error of judgement”, The Times reported.
One irate parent said the school could not “bring the magic back”, telling the paper: ““I don’t know how it can be undone, but I think it’s absolutely disgusting.
“It’s been difficult, really difficult because she’s a very bright little girl. So we’re just going to try and just push as much magic into this as we can”.
Another added: “Lots of children started crying in class. Mine was upset but she still believes so I’m quite lucky she’s still not believing him and she thinks he’s lost the plot.
“I think it’s wrong, but a lot of parents have had to confess to their child.”
Teachers have since written to parents to apologise, saying that “all stories and legends around Christmas” are legitimate”.
A spokesperson for the Diocese of Portsmouth said: “We understand that the vicar of St Faith’s, Lee-on-the-Solent, the Rev Paul Chamberlain, was leading an RE lesson for ten and eleven-year-olds at Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School.
“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 have worked together to address this issue, and the headteacher has now written to parents a second time, sending them Paul’s apology.”
