A primary school teacher who left a class of 25 pupils in tears after she told them Santa Claus did not exist has been fired. When excited youngsters became rowdy as they talked about Santa, the supply teacher said out suddenly, 'It's your parents who leave out presents on Christmas Day.'
The class of seven-year-olds at Blackshaw Lane Primary School, Royton, Greater Manchester burst into tears and told their parents when they arrived home. Mothers and fathers then complained about the incident and were sent a letter by the school saying the teacher, who only worked at the school for one day last week, has been punished.
The school has now said it will not hire her again.
One father said, 'My son came home and said that his teacher had told the class that Santa doesn't exist and it’s their mum and dad that put out presents for them. Obviously, they were all talking about Christmas and being a bit rowdy. She just came straight out with it. '
'My son was in tears and so was everyone else in the class — especially as it was so close to Christmas. I thought it was wrong. He was crazy about it. He’s only seven-year-old and it's part of the magic of Christmas to him. '
'We told him that she did not believe in Father Christmas because of her religion and he's fine now.'
'The father described the incident as ' shocking' and believed it was done with malicious intent (恶意地). A lot of parents were angry and complained to the school. The teacher, who was supplied by Rochdale and Oldham Supply Agency, is still listed and will work with other schools,' the agency said.
However, the head teacher in Angela McCormick refused to comment on the incident.
小题1: Who felt the angriest about the incident?A．The teacher who was fired.B．The parents whose children cried.C．The pupils who were in tears.D．Santa Claus the teacher talked about.小题2: We can infer from the passage that.A．the teacher was fired and couldn't continue her career in teachingB．the parents complained about the discipline of the schoolC．the little pupils felt disappointed after hearing the words said by the teacherD．in reality, Santa Claus exists and gives out presents once a year小题3: What’s the meaning of the underlined word 'rowdy'?A．surprised.B．noisy.C．discouraged.D．annoyed.