With Christmas being such an exciting time of year it’s easy to get swept up in the celebrations and everything Christmas, but not everyone in your class will be able to do the same. 

For those with different religious beliefs, who don’t celebrate Christmas or might find this time of year emotionally difficult, it can feel a bit isolating so we wanted to share a few ways you can help everyone in your class feel included.

The Christmas Play 

One of the most memorable parts of our Primary School experience is the annual Christmas Play but not everyone is able to enjoy it as much as we did. Each year many schools reassure parents that they do not need to buy a costume but some will still feel pressure to. 

To help make buying costumes a little bit easier make sure to give parents plenty of time and if you can, make sure there’s a payday before costumes are due to be in.

When it comes to making every child in your class feel included you should make sure to have conversations with the parents of SEND children and children in your class who have different religious beliefs to see if there are any alterations you can make to help them feel included.

Christmas cards, crafts and parties

When it comes to Christmas-themed activities it’s easy to make adaptations so that everyone can get involved. Make sure you have winter-themed activities that aren’t centred around Christmas, this allows those with different religions to get involved too! Make snowflakes out of paper, snowmen out of dough or igloos out of sugar cubes. These winter activities can be handed out whilst other children do Christmas-themed activities so that everyone can feel included.

Christmas Jumper Day

In 2012, Save the Children created Christmas Jumper Day to help raise money to support children living in poverty around the world. Many schools across the UK love to get involved in Christmas Jumper Day but it’s important to remember what this may mean for parents. If a child doesn’t already have a Christmas Jumper they will have to buy one which can prove financially difficult for parents, especially this year. To help combat this struggle why not make it a non-school uniform day or consider making the typical donation optional?

With such rich, culturally diverse communities we want to make sure everyone feels like they can get involved with all of the activities at school so we hope some of these changes may help with that.

We also have a blog about understanding and celebrating diversity in your classroom so you can keep everyone involved.

If you have any more ideas about keeping Christmas included comment below!

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