Yorkshire School Reinstates Christmas After Hundreds Of Letters From Students
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A school that vowed to cancel Christmas has decided to reinstate the festive celebration after receiving hundreds of letters from students.
Lady Lumbley's school in Pickering, North Yorkshire, was branded a school of Scrooges when it told students Christmas had been "buried under an avalanche of commercialisation."
Chris Paul, who teaches religious education at the school, told students the festive holiday was "a day celebrating the birth of Jesus and should be a time of goodwill to all," but said this meaning had been lost over time. He added that Santa Claus "was probably invented by the Coca-Cola company.
The RE teacher insisted there would be "no cards, no parties, no gifts, no Christmas tree," unless students wrote a persuasive argument about why they should be allowed to celebrate the festive season.
Unsurprisingly, this decision faced criticism from 'disgusted' parents, but after more than 500 convincing emails and letters "making a strong case," Chris decided to reinstate the Christmas celebrations.
Headteacher Richard Bramley told parents the idea had been to get the children thinking about the true meaning of Christmas.
In a statement, he said: "Those students who really thought about the situation and challenged the decision appropriately created the change and brought back Christmas. Well done to them and I hope they (and, in the true spirit of the season, everyone else) has a good Christmas."
Richard said students were made to consider the way society celebrates Christmas and the problems that come up this time of year, adding: "Students were asked to challenge the status quo; to ask 'why should we do things just because we have always done them?' and ... to question whether non-religious people should celebrate a religious festival."
And it seems the experiment was a roaring success as students successfully reinstated the festivities.
"With over 500 emails and letters making a strong case for its retention, Lady Lumley's has decided to keep Christmas in 2018."
The school added that all the Christmas lights and decorations would be put up once again, although it's unknown whether the students will receive a visit from Santa Claus himself.