Hampshire: Reverend tells school kids Santa is not real

Reverend Dr Paul Chamberlain has been the vicar at St Faiths Church in Lee-on-the-Solent since 2014 and was at Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School to read stories from the bible.

But the day took a turn for the worse as he told the kids that their parents eat the cookies that they leave out for Father Christmas, exposing the truth that the presents did not come from the North Pole.

While he only told one class of children, word spread throughout the school, resulting in one seven-year-old telling their mother every day that Santa is not real.

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One parent who did not want to be named said it ‘absolutely ruined’ their Christmas.

“I think it's absolutely disgusting,” the parent said.

“I don't want him anywhere near my daughter. I hope he never comes into the school again.”

Reverend Dr Paul Chamberlain told the children during an RE lesson. (Image: Malcolm Wells) Another parent said that lots of children started crying in the class after the vicar broke the news.

A parent of a 10-year-old girl in the class explained that the vicar also told the children that the Nativity was not true, saying that ‘Mary was too heavily pregnant to get on a donkey’ and that there was no stable or animals.

“He has basically tore the entire thing apart,” the parent said.

“We did, however, have a parent come in the next day who made all the children stickers that say, Lee-on-the-Solent believe. That helped save a lot of the magic, so that was really, really nice.”

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A spokesperson for the Diocese of Portsmouth said: “After talking about the Nativity story from the Bible, he made some comments about the existence of Father Christmas.

Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School, where the incident occurred. (Image: Paul Jacobs) “Paul has accepted that this was an error of judgement, 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.”

Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School posted on Facebook: “We have reassured the children that whilst Christians believe in God and the Biblical Christmas story, all stories and legends around Christmas are also legitimate and they should be allowed to believe in what every stories and legends they want.”