To think a nativity play should include every child in some capacity?

[hattyyellow]

50 kids in top half of DD's primary school. Not a lot surely? As always, they are putting on a lengthy production with song after song. This takes up most of this half term.

DD came home to tell me that she had no part and that a third of the children weren't included but would sit at the front of the audience and sing along with the songs..so she will spend most of this half term sitting on the floor watching rehearsals.

She doesn't want a star part or even to speak. She just wants to dress up as a random stable animal or be one of a host of angels/stars and wander on stage and off again. Teacher said there is no "capacity" for extra children to be involved, within the restrictions of the script..

In the 80's, every kid got to stand on stage in some kind of costume. Surely? I'm convinced our school stretched the stable guest list to about 20 stable animals and a vast amount of angels - all in basic homemade costumes.

Now, it seems to have become a big extravaganza instead. Don't most parents only attend the nativity to see their kid up on stage, however small their contribution is - rather then to attend some imminently transferring to the west end lavish production, centring around a few main kids.

I can see that at secondary school you might attend a school production for its artistic merits. But at primary, surely it's about involving all the kids? Meh.

We have a policy of "If you want to do it - you're in" and then we decide in what capacity you are "in". Seems only fair and, if pupils don't get a chance to have a go, they won't increase in confidence. Some teachers seem to forget that we are educating the whole child and not trying to get 5* first night reviews.

Could the play not be done on alternative nights with a Night 1 / Night 2 cast like in the West End? Then everyone would get a turn and could also go along on the other night as choir.

YANBU.

DD's nursery is having a Xmas play - all the kids get a part. As someone above said, they're in multiples e.g. 7 x shepherds, 7 x donkeys, 7 x angels etc etc, so they're all included.

Sometimes one year group always lead the show and the rest of Key Stage are involved with singing but then lead it the following year when they move up IYSWIM?

Might one year group be taking the main parts OP? And the rest are this year providing the singing support? To have starring roles next year? Or are the singers from across the year groups?

But agree that even the singers should get to dress up in some way!

Easy. Choir (dressed up). Crowd scenes. Orchestra (dressed up) Narrators. Scene changers (dressed up). Angels (Host of).

Depends on the play - straight Nativity or Grumpy Camel kind of thing, but there is always scope for all - even the most reluctant.

It's only ever done by our infants and Reception children but there's at least 100+ of them. Never been a problem.

"Some teachers seem to forget that we are educating the whole child and not trying to get 5* first night reviews". So true!

DD said there are only 3 angels! Surely the number of angels can be unlimited, they don't even have to come into the stable!

Yanbu. 90 children in Dd's foundation stage last year all got a part in their Christmas production. It was a dance to Partridge in a Pear Tree.

50 children is nothing.

MsInterpret - all year groups get to take parts - it seems that the ones who volunteered most loudly got parts and the rest not :(. DD quiet and thoughtful type.

I guess from all the great responses that I need to work on getting the ones singing somehow facing the audience/getting dressed up in some easy fashion that no one will object to having to find the costume for..tea towels on heads? Dark leggings/trousers/tops?

Fair enough to keep it to one year group (in fact, sounds very wise to me), but everybody in that year group needs to have some part to play.

I have 3 dc, who went through a 90 pupils in a year Infant and then Junior school, and every time there was any kind of production (every yr in Infants, changed a bit between eldest and youngest going through Jnr, but...) every child had a part in every production.

Why does that teacher think God created sheep?

So everyone could have a part in the nativity play, that's why!

In mine - you can be an angel - white tights, "big" white shirt buttoned up the back & some tinsel around waist & head or brown leggings/trousers/tights, with a stripey shirt & tea towel on head fastened with tinsel (shepherd). No wings or halo type accessories allowed - you'll have someone's eye out

When I was at school all the infants were in the play in some role but the juniors who weren't a character in their play made up the choir and/or were narrators.

YADNBU. Two thirds of the children get the excitement of rehearsals and dressing up and pre-show chaos preparation and the rest get to watch? How mean.

Can't they dress the choir up and let them face the audience?

My primary school in the 70s used to go to extraordinary lengths with the castlist to give everyone a part. I remember a load of us dressing as random animals to sing Animal Crackers in my Soup one year.

Our school has nearly 500 pupils and everyone gets a part. It's split into nursery, reception, KS1 and KS2, the only ones who don't end up in costume are the backstage crew from year 6 who (occasionally nearly physically) fight to be included.
Over the years my DC's have been:
A king
Angels
Shepherds
Squirrell
Tree
Sheep
Narrators
Choir members
A racehorse
And memorably a bouncing Christmas Bauble...

Somehow they manage to get everyone included and even serve coffee and mince pies to the audience afterwards!
YANBU

Oh, I forgot the year that DS had to dress up Shakin Stevens

I had a DC who was a (singing) tree one year...

YANBU.

Even if there are a dozen or more 'spare' children you could brigade them into a chorus, call them as the angelic choir or something, give them a chance to dress up, and be visually important to the production by being on the stage.

can't they dress up as a big choir of angels?

great minds, meditrina!

In our school all KS2 perform together. Only Yr6 have speaking parts (unless there are too many parts in which case occasionally a yr5 pupil might too),
But yrs 3-5 all still sit on stage as a chorus and sing all the songs, and they are always dressed up e.g. as angels of the heavenly host. The lower year groups all get a specific class song that they sing where they come to the front and do their own 'dance' with it.
Seems very sad that they can't even dress up, let alone not actually be allowed to be seen :(

if everyone can't be included, then it should be just one year group that take the parts and then everyone gets a turn when they are in that year.But the rest of the time they are not required to waste their time in rehearsals.The other classes can be choir and practice the songs in 20 minutes in their own classrooms.

Blimey! At ours any child who wants a part is included. Everyone else will be part of the choir or playing an instrument.

And additional needs doesn't exclude anyone. In fact the best Angel we ever had was a girl with autism who absolutely shone, dancing and singing her heart out - stole the whole show.

YANBU! At primary I agree EVERY child should be included!

It is not that difficult.

Mary
Joseph
Inn keepers x 3
Kings x 3
Shepherd x 5
Assorted animals x 10
Angels/Stars: 7

= 30

Then 20 assorted 'others' Mice/Xmas trees/Xmas crackers/carol singers/lobsters 'love actually style' WHATEVER.

What a bunch if unimaginative, miserable sods.

OP, check out this new thread for inspiration

Ha ha! BlinkQuenelle..she would actually love to be a dancing wolf!

Might push for the other kids to form a choir of heavenly angels - would the boys be happy to be angels too?