'Scrooge' school bans children giving Christmas cards

Pupils at Evan James primary school in Pontypridd, South Wales, have been told that they will only be permitted to swap cards outside the school gates.

The school is asking parents to make a donation to charity, instead of buying cards for their children.

A head teacher at a second school in the town has made a similar request, but has stopped short of an outright ban.

Angry parents and schools campaigners have accused the schools of acting against the spirit of Christmas.

Nicholas Daniels, deputy head of at Evan James primary school, said they were acting on "environmental and moral" grounds.

Teachers will instead allow the 420 pupils to make one card each for someone in their class so that everyone receives a handmade card.

Mr Daniels said: "The reasons for not having cards are endless and we are sticking to our guns.

"We are asking parents to contribute the money they would have spent on cards to the school's charity.

"We are a big school and the amount of cards teachers are asked to hand out can be horrendous.

"Cards in school cause litter problems and can become a popularity contest about who gets the most, with the risk some children could be left out.

"If the children want to write 30 cards to their friends they would be responsible for handing them out outside school premises."

Mr Daniels claimed that most parents and pupils supported the move.

But one parent said: "A lot of us feel the school is taking a politically correct decision but it is just a once-a-year occasion and the kids love taking cards for their friends.

"The school is acting like Scrooge and going completely against the spirit of Christmas."

Neighbouring Parc Lewis Primary has asked pupils not to exchange cards as part of its bid for an eco award.

In a letter to parents, head teacher Elaine Williams said: "As a change of plan this year and to help us get the Eco School Gold Award-Green Flag, we request that pupils don't bring in Christmas cards to give to each other.

"Instead they may make them in art lessons.

"Also, we request that you be so kind to donate £1 (instead of cards) for Oxfam and we will send the money to purchase a goat or mosquito net (for a family in Africa)."

Mrs Williams said the staff had done this last year and pupils asked if they could do the same.

"We are not banning Christmas," she said. "Pupils can carry on bringing in cards if they want. This is a request not a ban."

But in a letter to a local newspaper, one parent with four children at the school said: "I believe the banning of bringing in Christmas cards is utterly ridiculous, especially as the children get such fulfilment bringing them in."

Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: "It is totally ridiculous for schools to ban Christmas cards, especially on environmental grounds as most of them will be recycled anyway.

"It seems like more and more headteachers are striving to be considered politically correct in all manner of strange ways.

"This is going to deny children a huge amount of pleasure."

Teaching unions NUT Cymru and NASUWT said it was a matter for schools.

Geraint Davies of teacher's union NASUWT said: "This is not something where we have hard and fast rules.

"It is up to individual schools to decide what line to take, though teachers handing out cards could be a workload issue."

The tradition of sending Christmas cards started in Victorian times when,in the early 1840s, busy entrepreneur Sir Henry Cole commissioned well known artist John Calcott Horsley to design a card with a message printed on it which he could send to family and friends at Christmas.