School have banned the word "christmas"!!!

Bumpmakesfour

Asking you to make a contribution to sign a card?Why is it ok to send a joint card that is paid for but not individual ones??

balletshoes

liana_y2kuk wrote: »

My daughter came home from school today and told me that the head has banned everyone from saying the word Christmas. It has to be replaced with "advent" I have called a couple of the the other mums and they have confirmed that this has been told to all the children. Are they allowed to do this? This school is currently on special measures and I feel like the head and teachers should be more concerned about educating the children and rather than wasting time being condescending and judgemental.

They have also banned Christmas cards but the are children are allowed to sign a class card if they make a payment for this.

Am I right to be annoyed by this or am I over reacting?

Kat
x

until you've spoken to the teacher and/or head (ie whoever it was who told your child the word christmas was banned) then yes, you are possibly over-reacting.

lostinrates

Are you sure that Christmas hasn't been ''banned'' because its not yet Cristmas and little people are being distracted by it?

It seems odd i the extreme to ''replace'' Christmas with advent, but not that odd to pull emphasis away from gifts and the excitnent of the non religious aspects o Christmas to learn about the important (within the context of a faith school) period of Advent and more serious learning still going on.

liana_y2kuk

balletshoes wrote: »

until you've spoken to the teacher and/or head (ie whoever it was who told your child the word christmas was banned) then yes, you are possibly over-reacting.

You are correct. I will speak to the teacher tomoorw and find out the reason for this.

Kat
x

I will post back.

Stuart_W

I'm a primary school RE teacher.

If we want to get all technical about this, Christmas is the beginning of Christmastide, a twelve day period which begins at the close of advent. Christmas is a time when Christians remember the birth of Jesus, even though this event is most likely to have taken place in January. Advent, which I have been teaching about this afternoon, comes from the Latin 'adventus' which means arrival or coming. It is a Christian period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Advent is the four weeks before Christmas, beginning on November 30th, or the Sunday nearest to it (the four Sundays before Christmas Day). On each of the four Sundays in advent in traditional churches, a different candle on the Advent Wreath is lit, traditionally representing something different. The feast day Epiphany is traditionally celebrated in Western Christianity on 6th January representing the time the Magi (aka The Wise Men) visited Jesus. I believe Roman Catholics celebrate this on the Sunday closest to that date.

It may be worth checking that the assembly wasn't simply explaining that we are in Advent now and it is not Christmas yet. I'm not entirely sure that attempting to ban the use of a religious festival name is actually allowed, although I work in a community school with children from various faith groups, and none. I often talk about Eid or Yom Kippur at different times of the year (or even Christmas - when one delightful 7 year old thought that in July it was Christmas in Australia!).

On the entirely practical front, I am in full sympathy with the problems Christmas cards can cause - in the playground and in the classroom, especially if children are just handing them out. A child not getting a card when everyone else does can upset them for the rest of the day. A simple school post box system soon solves that one, they love posting the cards and each class gets given all their cards at the end of the week, including ones the teacher or head has written to make sure every child gets something. For some pupils, "Happy Holidays" will be more suitable, and Jehovah's Witness children require generic winter themed cards, but everyone can be included.

Might be worth checking she didn't mean Christmas cards are banned until a different date. We restrict them to the last two weeks of term (so beginning next Monday).

make_me_wise

liana_y2kuk wrote: »

My daughter came home from school today and told me that the head has banned everyone from saying the word Christmas. It has to be replaced with "advent" I have called a couple of the the other mums and they have confirmed that this has been told to all the children. Are they allowed to do this? This school is currently on special measures and I feel like the head and teachers should be more concerned about educating the children and rather than wasting time being condescending and judgemental.

They have also banned Christmas cards but the are children are allowed to sign a class card if they make a payment for this.

Am I right to be annoyed by this or am I over reacting?

Kat
x

Seems a ridiculous way to carry on to me. How exactly are they going to teach the children the Christmas Story, a major part of the curriculum. Are the children not going to put on a Christmas show, enjoy a christmas dinner, make christmas decorations. No wonder they are on special measures.

It is also not a schools place to ban anything linked to a religious celebration. The giving of christmas cards are all part of this. At the school where I work we respect all faiths. Parents are allowed to request that their children do not participate in certain religious activities if they wish to and we abide by these.

I would advise that you phone the school and express your unhappiness with this situation. Sounds to me like you have a power crazy head who does not have their priorities set right.

thorsoak

For some reason I am unable to show my "thanks" to posts - but I think that Stuart_W sums up the "technicalities" of the Advent/Christmas period admirably. Especially for those who may not be Christian and who do not understand that still to some people Christmas does start on Christmas day!

xbrenx

They've been trying to bring in the phrase *holidays* instead of Christmas for ages now - it's so we don't upset people who don't celebrate Christmas.

Political correctness gone barmy.
We are a Christian country, let's not let them steal the biggest celebration of it. Even if most people don't really celebrate it for religious reasons anymore.

Gillyx

lostinrates wrote: »

Are you sure that Christmas hasn't been ''banned'' because its not yet Cristmas and little people are being distracted by it?

It seems odd i the extreme to ''replace'' Christmas with advent, but not that odd to pull emphasis away from gifts and the excitnent of the non religious aspects o Christmas to learn about the important (within the context of a faith school) period of Advent and more serious learning still going on.

This was the reason in my primary school (good few years ago now) that Christmas wasn't to be mentioned until a specific date, can't remember which now, and it had a "code" word as the kids all got far too worked up and excited and it was a nightmare.

Same with Christmas cards, children roaming around the classroom to hand them out, so we had a box in the foyer and they were delivered just before 3pm to whoever they were intended for

pimento

liana_y2kuk wrote: »

Am I right to be annoyed by this or am I over reacting?

You're over reacting. Not everyone is a god botherer and IMO religion should be kept out of schools.

Oh! and a Catholic school in special measures? Well I never!