Is this normal for a School Nativity play?

[BoysBoysBoysAndMe]

Had a letter home today from the School to say the Receptions' Nativity will be on X day, maximum of 2 tickets per child, £2 per ticket?

I have to pay to see my DS1 in his Nativity? [shocked]

Not only that, but no cameras, phone cameras or camcorders are allowed to be used. If we want a picture of him as a King they will take the photo and I have to pay £1 for it!

Now, before I'm flamed, I'm going to pay. It is only £5 for the lot and it's for School Funds, which I understand. But couldn't they have just asked for a contribution on the day?

Is it normal practice? AIBU? I know I sound like a skinflint - I'm not

Not normal here (Norfolk town) & there would be uproar if they tried to charge anything.
We are asked not to publish pix on FB, though.
Only limited tickets now -- new HT brought that in a few years ago along as well as changing to only one performance (previously they had 2 performances).

I am sick to death of being mugged by school. YANBU.

NO! This is NOT normal! Never heard of a school charging for the nativity. I would be livid!

I don't know, it's hard being asked for donations/money all the time (I think oct-dec is by far the worst time for it) but to be fair schools have very very little money without these things. There wouldn't be nearly as many decent resources for DCs to use without money raised by the PTA. Our school wouldn't run nearly so well without lots of parents giving time, too, to help out at events and listen to DCs reading etc.

We have just had the same notice that they are charging #2 per ticket, minimum 2 tickets. There are 2 different plays for KS1 & KS2 so potential with a child in each to pay #8. The only difference is that the money is going to charity not the school. What does anyone think to that?

P.S. Allowed to take pictures but not to post online

Nativity is only YR, Y1 and Y2. No charge, no ticket restrictions, photos and video allowed. This year PTA are selling refreshments beforehand.

It's performed over 3 mornings, one performance for each year group's parents, although nobody minds if you go to one or another.

never heard of charging for this tbh

the minimum of two would have me up in arms - why would i have to pay double as a single parent? cheeky buggers.

My head will explode if I get asked for any more money this term. I think I will just say "no" actually.

yeah - what do they do if u genuinely can't come up with 4 euros - will they stop u from entering? seems over the top

Normal to charge for tickets here (Surrey/Berkshire border). Schools seem to licence a production these days, rather than write their own script. School has told parents that this years production is costing £150. Not clear what that cost involves but having looked online, the production pack is £30 including photocopy masters, then there is the cost of photocopying, then the cost of scenery construction, cost of lighting/sound hire (some schools will have enough of their own, others will hire some extra equipment), then the license fee itself.

More about performances needing a Licence - it does not give details of the licence fee as it varies.

In some schools the school friends / parent teacher association may fund this kind of thing.

For anyone who is struggling to afford the costs involved, contact your child's school and ask about funding. Maybe the PTA has some limited funds available to help parents struggling with the cost.

A minimum of 2? That is just weird. A maximum I understand due to space, and that's why we have the dress rehearsal performances... Having it as a minimum is really odd and a bit insensitive. Maybe it's to ensure the hall is full though.

Ours is free and I would kick up a stink if they tried to charge! Their choice to have a nativity-we are not christians so I really dont care if they dont.

Limited to 2 tickets-though I think I remember last year they did a seperate special performance for gp's.

You are also allowed to record it. And we get tea/coffee and mince pies afterwards

When my DCs were at the infant school it was free to get into the concert... but they used to charge to get out! LOL.

Actually they asked for charitable donations into a bucket on the way out. The DVD they made also cost us extra too.

Oh just remembered we weren't allowed to take younger siblings to ours...

Fab whilst watching but a pain in the arse to find someone to have the younger ones for an hour....

Free to watch, charity donation on leaving, and 2 tickets per family is the norm for all my DC's school plays (every child is in a play every year, but they are spaced out through the year).

No photographs, however, is very strictly enforced as the school has some children who must not be included in photographs for reasons of their own safety. The school does take pictures of children who CAN be photographed in groups at a separate time and displays those in school - I'm sure that a parent desperate for a photograph, who didn't get a photograph of the child in costume at home, would be allowed a copy of one of those. I have never seen the 'no photos' rule being broken - it's definitely not a 'just in case' rule, it does relate to current children in the school and the HT is extremely clear about it in all contexts (sports day, plays, cameras in the playground etc etc) so everyone is used to it.

Free to watch, unlimited numbers and photography but no flash is the norm where I teach - but our nativity is in a vast barn of a church and the school as a whole has less than 100 children so there are no limitations of space and oddly enough despite having a significantly more challenging intake than my DC's school we don't have anyone who cannot be photographed for child protection reasons.

Ours charge for tickets to contribute towards hiring the staging, the lights and the sound system. Also as they use a bought show (script, songs and CD for the children to sing to) the money goes to buying that and the performing rights license. We only send basic costume bits - this year it's white teeshirt and shorts for one child and grey tights and school jumper for the other; school provides the rest.
We are limited on tickets due to health and safety in the school hall.
We can't photograph or film the performance but we can photograph our own child after the performance in a photo call.

They buy the show???How frikkin hard is it to write a nativity play?
I can't bear this commercialism of everything, right down to the full on angel costume from Asda.
What's wrong with a tinsel halo and your dads shirt?
(I know, I know, every year on here the same rants!)

I guess. I just always think of schools as having a resident piano playing music teacher, but maybe they don't.

Do many schools do a traditional nativity any more? There were a lot of v strange pop/rock CD based ones when mine were at first school. No sign of Mary and Joseph very much.

That's what it was always like for me at my schools when I was a child. Tickets were £2.50 back then, so much more expensive. They always sold out every night.

Round here it's limited to 2 tickets officially, but free, which means some people blatently ignore the rule and bring grandparents, aunts etc and other people jump through hoops to manage to please their relatives and not break the rule.

Wish they would take their own pictures and ban people from taking them anyway.

We have to provide the costumes, which always seems a bit ridiculous as I now have a shepherds outfit, a girls angel outfit and a Mary outfit. Of course despite owning half the nativity costumes, I didn't have a boys angel outfit for my son this year...but have managed to borrow one instead.