Nativity play

The school where I taught for nearly 30 years only had a Reception/Nursery Nativity. Yr 1 and 2 did a Christmas themed performance. There was no Christmas performance in KS2 but they did other performances at different times.

That was a story (may not be true) that a child who was chosen, against his wishes, to be the Innkeeper said "Yes, come on in. We've got loads of rooms." when Joseph and Mary knocked at the door.

(I like to think it was true!)

Not all kids want to say a line. In my class I ask who wants to say a line and make sure those children all get something. The parts with more lines will be given to those with louder voices and the ones I know will learn them. If a child doesn't want to say a line, I give them a non-speaking role that includes time on stage.

Our school just let kids choose to a degree. My daughter has a lovely clear speaking voice & a good memory for lines..she chose a shepherd, she's happy with it & seems to give no shits what lines she has so who am i to care

I’m surprised they are having a nativity in year 6 - my eldest school is very Catholic and year 5 and 6 don’t do nativities

That’s her choice to be an elite athlete. Everyone in the class isn’t forced to attend her training sessions. And I didn’t suggest there should be 30 Mary’s or that everyone should get a main part

Getting some lines is fine, I agree that everyone should get some lines when young, however sounds like the OP's DD is almost a teenager, you can't have 30 mary's so someone is going to be disappointed and more likely tsomeone that is confident and able to cope will get more lines.

My DD is now an elite athlete, constant rejection is the reality, being subbed, not making teams, not making trials, building the necessary skills to cope with situations is really important.

in our school nativity the inn keeper was a pretty big part - a few lines and plenty of time on stage. The angels were all together did a dance and shuffled off

This was me too.
Stupid brown hair.
I got Mary. Cried for weeks. They let me be an angel in the end.
In hindsight, stupid stupid BIG mistake.

Write to your MP @ForPoisedLemonScroller It's the only way!

You could be this time the posh shepherd from Nazareth who had done an all inclusive holiday at Rome and had come back with a really classy toga or chiton or whatever instead of the homespun outfit.

You caint always get what you wa-ant . . . .
Mick Jagger, philosopher

I was always “the angel Gabriel” because I had the loudest voice.
I always wanted to be Mary, but that never happened. It sucked.
until one year when we did a totally different version of the nativity story that was a traditional folktale (I can’t remember where from) that had a grandpa telling his grandchildren about the Christmas he spent in the “Imperial palace” as an advisor to the Empress.
I was the Empress. And NOT impressed. I wanted to be the narrator.

Sorry but I don’t really agree . Being picked for a specific part or main part yes of course you can’t expect that. Every child who wants to participate getting a small line = no harm to anyone and is beneficial for all the children.

We did have a few unorthodox animals in the stable, but no magpies 😂

Last year I got to be a shepherd. We have an adult shepherd costume (I don’t know why or where it came from) and the lead teacher decided to make the naughtiest child a shepherd so I could sit beside him.

This year one of our shyest children is a shepherd (non-speaking) and guess who he’s asked for to sit next to him? If it gets him on stage then ill
do it but really? He couldn’t choose someone else?

Does she want to swap her innkeeper for a shepherd (must be able to make a quick exit stage left with a crying infant should the need arise.)

I was Mary and I had just one job...to turn the torch in the cradle on so it looked like a halo. I cocked it up and was never asked again 🫣

A cool rôle might be the awed-into-silence magpie on the roof of the stable (according to the famous painting).
Great opportunity to dress up in black and white like Gene Vincent, as described by Ian Dury!

I was Mary in my junior school nativity 59 years ago. I can still remember the words I had to say - I was so petrified I'd get them wrong, they're seared into my brain.

Maybe her innkeeper persona could be all decked out in frosted holly with sparkly tinsel, celebrating some pre-Christian Yule/Mithras rave-up festival when Mary and Joseph amble up with the wee donkey?

When I was a Reception teacher I used to get everyone to learn the lines and most of them were said in unison. It helped when children who had their own lines to say inevitably got chicken pox just before Christmas so another child could step in. I used to talk about the script beforehand and discuss the characters (not many children knew what shepherds were) and then let them choose. It was rarely a problem but if we had too many Marys we put names in a hat. I had boy and girl angels, shepherds and animals.