Bishop’s CE Primary Academy in Thetford to open affordable grotto to give as many children as possible the ‘best Christmas ever’

A Thetford headteacher whose school is in one of the most deprived postcodes in the country is opening an affordable Santa’s Grotto for all at the weekend to ensure as many children as possible get to see the big man before Christmas.

Lorraine Ratcliffe, who has been head of The Bishop's CE Primary Academy on the Abbey Estate in the town since September 2022, will open the site between 12.30pm and 4pm on Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday.

The Abbey Estate is the 52nd most deprived postcode in England and comes in the first quintile for most aspects of deprivation, which prompted Lorraine to do all she could to make Christmas special for as many children as she could this year.

She said: “Last year, we hosted a ‘Breakfast with Santa’ event and we had around 20 children and their parents come into the school to eat as much as they could, do crafts and there was also a little grotto – It was just lovely.

“It was very popular and we wanted to do it bigger this year, so this year the grotto covers a number of classrooms and we are opening it up to anybody in the area who wants to come and meet Father Christmas.”

With prices nearing £10 at some places to see Santa though, Lorraine said it would be a lot of money for some of her school’s families to go and create Christmas memories.

She said: “With some of our families having four or five children, it just seemed such a shame that some may miss out on seeing him due to cost.

“So here at the weekend for £3 and no booking needed, families will get to meet Santa who will give the children a high quality gift, have pictures taken in his sleigh as well as doing crafts while they wait for their turn.”

The money will go to providing outdoor toys for the site’s forest school and a bid has been put into a charity within the town to match whatever is raised.

Lorraine said: “We have had so many donations of grotto items from people and companies, bringing this together, and I can not thank everyone enough for their help and time – people have just been so kind.

“We want all children to have the best Christmas ever and if the grotto brings that to them it makes this all worthwhile.”

Santa’s Grotto at The Bishop's CE Primary Academy will be open between 12.30 to 4pm on Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday – entry is £3.