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Parents were furious after primary school children were told that Santa was not real during an assembly.

A children's worker from the Mary Bass Charity stunned the pupils at Fleet Wood Lane Primary, Holbeach, while giving a speech in the school hall.

Worker Emily Taylor also invited two girls to smash chocolate Santas and reindeer in front of other pupils as part of the assembly.

School bosses have apologised for the "inappropriate" assembly and say the charity involved, which was set up to "further the religious and other charitable work of the Church of England", will never be invited back to the school, according to the Mirror Online.

Parents have been left furious by the incident.

Parent, Ella Bowring, said: "I was asking my six-year-old this evening if he was planning to write a letter to Santa.

"He said 'there is no such thing as Santa, he is just a made up thing...'

"On questioning him further he said that Emily got a 'big girl' and a 'small girl' to come up in assembly and smash a chocolate Santa and a chocolate reindeer with a hammer.

"To say that I am furious is an understatement."

Jordan Wyatt said: "I'm disgusted that Emily was able to go in there and say the stuff she did and that the teacher that was sat in didn't intervene.

(Image: Visit Lincoln)

"It must have been so worrying for all the kids."

Parents said their children came home form school and said they no longer believed in Santa.

The school, which does not have a religious denomination, apologised for the assembly last Thursday.

Head teacher Rachael Cotton said she had written to parents about the incident.

She said: "We have apologised to parents and children and totally sympathise with their concerns.

"I have written to parents stating that some of the presentation by the Mary Bass Charity in a school assembly was inappropriate and assured them that we will not be using representatives from this charity again."

The head teacher added that she has spoken to the children at the school to help them understand the theme of the assembly in an appropriate way and has apologised for how it was delivered.

She added: "We discussed our core values of respect and tolerance and how parts of the assembly did not uphold those beliefs."

The school is also planning to have a Santa's Grotto in the building as of yesterday.

Mrs Cotton added: "The children are really looking forward to meeting Santa in his grotto organised by our wonderfully supportive PTA.

“We have so many exciting plans to make Christmas magical for the children this year as we do every year."

The school, which was praised in its latest Ofsted report, met with church representatives to discuss concerns.

The Mary Bass Charity, based in Peterborough, carries out its work across seven parishes in the local area.

A spokesman for the charity said: “The Trustees will be meeting before Christmas to discuss the situation.”