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Reverend going a little off-piste:
Breaking the illusion that Santa is not real is a parental ritual usually handled with painstaking care.
For students at a primary school in Hampshire, however, their childhood wonder was torn to shreds after a vicar told pupils the bearded gift-bearer was made up.
Teary students, angry parents and claims of a “ruined Christmas” followed Rev Dr Paul Chamberlain’s visit to Lee-on-the-Solent junior school this week. The Times reported that he was there to speak to a religious education class about the birth of Jesus but the scope of his talk soon broadened.
He told year 6 students, who are aged between 10 and 11, that Father Christmas was not real, prompting pupils to sob. He also said that their parents bought their presents and ate the biscuits left out for Santa.
www.theguardian.com
Breaking the illusion that Santa is not real is a parental ritual usually handled with painstaking care.
For students at a primary school in Hampshire, however, their childhood wonder was torn to shreds after a vicar told pupils the bearded gift-bearer was made up.
Teary students, angry parents and claims of a “ruined Christmas” followed Rev Dr Paul Chamberlain’s visit to Lee-on-the-Solent junior school this week. The Times reported that he was there to speak to a religious education class about the birth of Jesus but the scope of his talk soon broadened.
He told year 6 students, who are aged between 10 and 11, that Father Christmas was not real, prompting pupils to sob. He also said that their parents bought their presents and ate the biscuits left out for Santa.

Ho-ho-no! Children in tears after vicar tells them Santa is not real
Rev Dr Paul Chamberlain apologises for talk at Hampshire school after angry parents say he ‘ruined Christmas’