You might need a cup of tea, coffee, or maybe a stiff drink. It's not midday here, but I'm sure it's after lunch somewhere in the world, so crack open your gin and settle down with me....
I'll recap for any of you that missed my exciting tale...
Once upon a time (3 weeks ago to be precise) there was a little girl, let's call her Miss G (because that's her name) and a teacher, we'll call her the wicked witch, and the rest of class 5D having a happy Christmas themed religious studies lesson.
'can you tell me what is in the Christmas Story?' said the Wicked Witch
'baby Jesus!, donkeys!, Mary and Joseph!, angels!, presents!' etc etc, came the refrain
'yes yes yes - very good' said the Wicked Witch 'anything else?'
And here's where the happy Christmassy lesson started to go down hill...
'SANTA!' shouted one giddy little boy (he is giddy, he always is, he's one of the rowdy boys, as 9 yr old boys should be)
'um, no, Santa is a myth created by the American Coca-Cola corporation' mumbled the Wicked Witch into her book
SHOCK HORROR - gasps all around the classroom, a lot of hissed whispering amongst the kids, nothing more was said by the Wicked Witch, the lesson moved back toward the baby Jesus.
Miss G came home from school that night all upset and tearful, complaining of tummy ache and feeling sick. She stayed off school the next day, and spent most of it whimpering and crying. I put it down to a virus and let her eat as many biscuits as she felt necessary (biscuits are magic, you understand).
Next morning, she is getting ready for school, 5 minutes before we leave she blurts out 'Miss N said Santa was invented by Coca Cola'. 'Pardon?' says I, she repeats it, in more detail. I stand with my mouth open thinking 'what the f&%k do I say now?'. Then the inevitable question comes 'so, Mummy, was she lying?' (I try to think quickly - I'm not good at it) 'Yes, she was' I say 'he was most certainly not created by Coca Cola at all, they just put him in a red suit one year, before that he wore green or purple'. I hope it's good enough. It wasn't....'no, is he a myth, or is he a real person?'
Now, most of the other parents I have since spoken to chose to go down a different road to me at this point, but my theory is this - the 2 sets of people (grown up ones) that influence children the most are teachers, and parents. Neither set should lie to the child, if a lie is found out then trust is lost, and that can only cause trouble further down the road. Most of the other parents said 'of course Santa is real, and if you don't believe he won't bring you presents'. I said this;
'Santa as you think of him is a myth, he doesn't come down your chimney each year, but he is a very important person and was a real man a long time ago, just like people believe Jesus was a real man a long time ago. He isn't alive now, but he is still with us in spirit, and when we get home from school we can google him and learn lots of things about him, ok?'
We spent the journey to school talking about it all, and she was pretty upset, but I promised Christmas would not change, not one bit. Obviously I was wrong, Miss G's theory was 'the magic is all gone, and that's the best bit'. So true, my little baby, but I won't let on I feel that way...
I phoned the school as soon as I was sure the secretary would be in, and told her the situation, she said she'd look into it and get back to me. I left it a couple of days, and then phoned again, the head was off due to bad weather but would be calling me. I phoned one last time before he did call me back and his response was a bit flat.
He apologised, he said he completely understood my upset and anger, and he would be the same if it had happened to his children (his are a similar age to Miss G), he told me the teacher in question had prepared a very informative lesson on Saint Nick, and the history surrounding him (obviously I had already done that with Miss G). Now, for me, the lesson was fine, and much needed, but to the other parents who had told their kids he was real it was merely the Wicked Witch telling them all over again that he wasn't. I don't know at what age children learn about the Saint Nick story, but I presume it's not in Juniors, more likely to be at around age 13?
I asked the headteacher to ensure that by the end of term Grace had gotten an apology in person from the teacher. I told him that it was all I asked, and not too much to ask for. I wanted her to know that Miss G was gutted - completely, that we had tears most days since it happened, and she didn't even want Christmas anymore. I wanted him to pass on my comments and ask her to structure her apology accordingly. I didn't need an apology, Miss G did.
He said ok.
Well, Friday was the last day of term - no apology, no note from the Wicked Witch, nothing. I still have an upset child, the matter still isn't resolved.
I have since found out (from speaking to another teacher) that the Wicked Witch is a difficult one, she isn't the most likeable of people, and that the head (as head of juniors - she is a seniors teacher) doesn't have much authority over her, that she knows it, and couldn't care less. I wasn't going to get the apology, not if he dragged her down by her hair and tried to force her.
So, since it's happened there's been a teacher in Manchester sacked for the same offence. I have been nothing but polite, and allowed the school to sort it in it's own way. However, after speaking to the teacher on Friday, she said my best bet is to speak to the Senior's head, and tell him because there's no way he knows. I have a feeling none of the junior school teachers like this Wicked Witch much, I feel it's about time someone brought her down a peg or two. I was told by the teacher that there has been a lot of chat amongst themselves about the situation, and non of them are best pleased. Miss G told me that her form tutor had sent her to the secretary's office with a news clipping of the sacked teacher from Manchester. I can't do anything now, as it's the Christmas holiday, but I am just not satisfied. I don't want the woman to lose her job (although I'd prefer it if there was a different teacher teaching them RS), I just want her to apologise to Miss G, to her face.
And that's it so far. What do you think of the school's response? Am I being unreasonable to think a verbal apology from the head isn't enough? I am planning on getting W (he's better with words) to write to the seniors head (who is the big boss of the whole school) and arrange a meeting with him next term. W is annoyed he didn't go to the school in the first place and kick up a fuss, but I don't think that's a very polite or constructive way to go about things.
