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Original poster

Do you need to pay to see your children's Nativity Play?

29 replies

byzantinerelics · 05/12/2023 20:01

and how much? I was a little surprised with £2 a ticket tbh!

OP posts:
LovedMyLastNameItHadToGo · 05/12/2023 20:02

Er no! Ours is held in the local church so we can make a donation at the church.

BugsyDrakeTableScape · 05/12/2023 20:02

No! Two free tickets for each child

devildeepbluesea · 05/12/2023 20:03

Yes, £2 per ticket…

PuttingDownRoots · 05/12/2023 20:03

School 1- no
School 2 - no but you could buy tea and coffee and mince pies
School 3- think it was a pound a ticket.

Also paid £2 for Summer play

Santaiswashinghissleigh · 05/12/2023 20:04

£2.50..and 50p entry to the Christmas fair...

Original poster
byzantinerelics · 05/12/2023 20:04

I don't really mind, I know things are tight budget wise. It was just a bit of an 'oh!' moment.

OP posts:
SpinningTops · 05/12/2023 20:04

Schools are struggling so much! It's probably fed back in to pay for essentials for the classroom.
I wouldn't quibble over £2.

ny20005 · 05/12/2023 20:04

Usually £2 a ticket for school funds & a raffle of some sort

wafflingworrier · 05/12/2023 20:06

No, but it depends on the size of the school and whether or not you provide the costumes i think. If there's only 30 children but the school have had to buy costumes/music/other expenses I think it's fair to cover this in ticket prices.

wafflingworrier · 05/12/2023 20:07

As the money will definitely be benefitting the children, I wouldn't personally mind paying.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 05/12/2023 20:08

No-
I would rather a collection than charging people to see their kids perform

PuttingDownRoots · 05/12/2023 20:08

Schools have to pay for the scripts and a performance license if its one of those Musical versions!

Moonshine5 · 05/12/2023 20:08

You have an option to donate to charity on your way out

Honolululu · 05/12/2023 20:10

Putting on a performance even in a very small school costs about £100 for the script, music and licence. I think you're meant to pay the licence even if you have the script/music already. It varies according to school size. The staff will also have bought props most likely. We ask for a donation but never turn a profit, it just helps cover costs.

Aturtleatemysandwich · 05/12/2023 20:14

No charge (it’s a school with a very large proportion of children on free school meals and a HT with the sensitivity to realise that charging would be completely inappropriate) but there is an unobtrusive collection at the end for a charity chosen by the children. It usually makes about £30-£50.

Edit - there is no music beyond the kids singing a couple of verses of We wish you a merry Christmas at the end and the script was written by a teacher a decade or two ago and hasn’t changed since. The only props are a couple of chairs, a box for a manger and a doll and the costumes are just paper headbands. Costs practically nothing, is really lovely and frankly I’d be horrified if they were spending money on putting on a West End musical.

RudolfsLeftToe · 05/12/2023 20:23

It’s £2 per ticket here, it used to be free with a collection for the PTA at the end which actually made more because no one gave less than £5 and most gave £10 or £20 and those who couldn’t pay could discreetly pass on donating.

SirenSays · 05/12/2023 20:24

No but heavily encouraged to give a generous donation

AnneLovesGilbert · 05/12/2023 20:25

No, two tickets per child per show and they haven’t mentioned money.

MaloneMeadow · 05/12/2023 20:26

I think I remember DD’s being around £5 per ticket.. however this was at a private school so would expect to pay more anyway. All funds/donations from it went to the PTA so not for profit whatsoever. I don’t think £2 is bad at all if it’s going to the right place

MeinKraft · 05/12/2023 20:27

£5 per ticket but tbf the school bought all the costumes and they don't have any other kind of fund raiser in December.

SkankingWombat · 05/12/2023 20:33

Yes, we pay about £2 per ticket for both the KS1 nativity and KS2 play, limited to 2 tickets per family initially. Once everyone has had a chance to buy their two, any unsold are available to be bought as extras. The money raised goes directly towards covering the cost of the play (although still doesn't cover it all). The PTA also have a stall selling drinks and cakes for further fundraising. Prices are very cheap and people often insist on paying extra as a further donation.
It is a 1 form entry village school.

Caffeineislife · 05/12/2023 20:33

Ours used to be 2 free tickets per child, £2 per extra ticket, food and drink supplied by PTA at the end was extra. One year someone on the PTA filmed the dress rehersal and sold dvds. We had a sizeable PTA who had children in different year groups so there was a rota system for who set up, sold and packed down depending on which year group was performing.

Strawberryshortcake90 · 05/12/2023 20:38

Ours is free but the PTA will be there with a collection bucket and flogging mince pies.

AliasGrape · 05/12/2023 20:40

No, but there will be tea/ coffee/ biscuits and mince pies being sold at £1 per item.

WoolyMammoth55 · 05/12/2023 20:41

Random anecdote klaxon!! - this brings back memories for me :)

DS1's nativity was cancelled due to Covid. Were gutted not to see the musical and comedy stylings of our PFB.

Then the parents of one child had a tiny film company, so they got special dispensation to be the only parents in the room so they could film it for everyone else to watch... seemed like an ok solution.

...but THEN they announced they were charging £10 for access to the video files!!

We were so outraged, we paid for 1 between 5 of us and did a video night with popcorn. But the video was awful quality, couldn't hear a word, gave up halfway through. How they had the balls to charge for it I've no idea, I could have done better on my phone...

Moral of the story: their name is mud and there's been a few film jobs since that they've been blackballed from by school parents due to their meanness.

Random anecdote aside, aren't most things a voluntary contribution? I'd pay £2 but £10 was a bit much!