Every teacher needs a fairy godmother. But while you’re waiting for her to turn up, you’ll have to provide (and pay for) the magic yourself. One way is to give yourself a Christmas treat such as a three-night break at the Angel Hotel, the 15th-century coaching inn where Dickens wrote The Pickwick Papers, in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The price of pound;387 per person, full board, from 24 December (based on two sharing) includes a five-course Christmas Day lunch, a champagne reception and tickets to see Cinderella at the nearby Georgian Theatre Royal. Details from Sunvil UK: 020 8232 9788; www.ukweekends.com.

Or take yourself off to Narnia by way of Stratford-upon-Avon, where a three-night break at the four-star Stratford Victoria Hotel costs pound;419 per person, full board, and includes a four-course traditional Christmas lunch, and entertainments such as a Christmas Eve treasure hunt and top-price tickets to see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre on Boxing Day evening, followed by a gala ball. Details about RSC Short Breaks on 020 8758 4799; www.rscshortbreaks.com.