College bans 'Christmas' and 'Easter' from calendar for fear of offending ethnic students

A college has renamed the traditional Christmas and Easter breaks in a bid to avoid offending students from other religions.

The college's new calendar shows that both of the traditional holiday periods have now been re-branded as 'end of term breaks'.
Critics have complained that the decision by Yorkshire Coast College is nothing more than 'political correctness'.

Tory MP Robert Goodwill said: 'I have heard that some people refer to the Christmas period as the Winterval, which is worse. This is absolutely barmy.

'We are a Christian country and, to be honest, religious tolerance in this country is about respecting other people's religious beliefs.'

'We live in a country where there is a mutual respect for religious beliefs.
'School terms are traditionally separated by Christmas and Easter and they should be referred to as such.
'They are petrified that they offend the minority but what they are doing is offending the majority.

'It's political correctness gone mad and I am disappointed that it's from an edict from Ofsted.'
The college, based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire offers a range of courses concentrating on training for 'life skills' such as Engineering, Motor Vehicle Training and IT.
The college insists that the decision is in line with Ofsted guidelines and has been made to 'increase inclusion and diversity'.

It circulates the internal year planner annually to 150 teaching staff and up to 50 other workers to inform them of important dates such as term times and training days.
A spokeswoman for the college said: 'Every school and college, wherever located, is responsible for educating its learners who will live and work in a country which is diverse in terms of cultures, religions or beliefs, ethnicities and social backgrounds.
'All employees at Yorkshire Coast College are encouraged to closely follow guidelines set out by Ofsted for the promotion of equality and diversity.

'We constantly review the ways in which we communicate, to ensure that we do not discriminate, and part of those reviews means that we have stopped referring to the Christmas Break and Easter Break and we now have End of Term Break.'