Primary school serves 800 Christmas dinners to underprivileged pupils and their families

Parklands primary school in Yorkshire also arranged for pupils to meet Father Christmas and get presents

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A primary school in Leeds has served 800 Christmas dinners to underprivileged pupils and their families in a bid to show them “Santa hasn’t forgotten about them”.

Staff at Parklands Primary School in West Yorkshire realised many pupils either wouldn’t be getting a hot meal on Christmas Day, or wouldn’t get presents.

So they invited the 328 pupils and their families to celebrate a “Christmas Eve Eve” party on Monday where they were given presents and got to meet Father Christmas.

Headteacher Chris Dyson, who set up the party, said he was left “heartbroken” when he discovered many of his pupils wouldn’t be unwrapping presents on Christmas Day.

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Dyson, said: "It's every child's right to see Santa, and I thought if you can't go to see him, I'll bring him to you. So I said I would bring Santa to Parklands and get every child at least one present to open.”

The staff decorated the school hall, and bought a Christmas tree, as well as buying presents for every child and serving hot meals to over 800 people.

Those children with a birthday coming up also received a birthday present on the day.

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The school serves one of the largest council estates in Europe - an area in the top 1 per cent in England for deprivation and where only a third of adults are employed.

More than 70 per cent of pupils at the school qualify for pupil premium, where they are given free school meals.

Mr Dyson added: "We are in the middle of one of the biggest council estates in Europe, a lot of our families don't even go off the estate.

"Christmas is a vulnerable time for families, its cold and for some people it is the only hot meal they will get this week.”

This isn’t the first time the party has been held - Dyson first held a party six years ago where 150 pupils came. The number doubled in the following year and kept growing.

Local businesses have given cash and gift donations, as well as Leeds City Council who have provided food.

Mr Dyson took over at the school in 2014, after it went through five headteachers in just one year and was rated inadequate by Ofsted, the government's education watchdog.

He explained: "Schools are all shut around the country, but not us. We want our community to know we love them, and they deserve that extra love and attention and we endeavour to stay open as much as we can.

"It's so important. It's a vulnerable time, food isn't as plentiful here as where I live. It's important they get a hot meal.”