To want a traditional nativity play for once?

[Shutthegatepeter]

This week my son has his nativity. He has already done a dress rehearsal that parents could attend so I’ve seen it, his ‘proper’ performance is on Friday evening. It’s very cute and the kids and teachers have done a great effort so I do appreciate it, it’s certainly better than no nativity at all like during covid. But I’ve noticed with all 3 of my children now that they never do a traditional nativity anymore. One year my eldest daughter didn’t do a nativity they did a ‘Christmas play’ instead with Santa and dancing teddy bears, no Mary and Joseph. Another year my middle child was a spaceman who travelled to a Christmas planet, there was a brief mention of the birth of Jesus but no Mary, Joseph, shepherds etc. This year my youngest is a Christmas tree, there is a Mary and Joseph and a basic nativity story, but there’s breakdancing kings and they sing Bruno Mars I think I want to marry you. There’s no silent night, no away in a manger. None of my 3 children know away in a manger because they’ve never sang it in their nativities, they’re always trying to spice it up and modernise it and make it different. I appreciate the thought and maybe as a one off one year it’d be nice to see something different, but it’s every year and now none of my 3 have ever done a normal nativity. I want to hear away in a manger, not Bruno mars! I’m not even religious 😂 Has anyone else had a traditional nativity or are they a thing of the past now?

I remember being a farmer one year - based on nativity but different people visited Jesus! Nurses, farmers, firemen etc.

More seriously, I'm not religious but this is a good example of how we're becoming an almost totally secular society without considering any of the negatives to that.

I've got to say that I would pay good money to see a primary nativity/Downfall mash-up.

This is my first year with both DC in the same one as they are doing one for all KS1 together. It sounds like it's going to be part very traditional and part new with some Strictly element. DD is an angel and DS is a dancing shepherd.

3 years ago, last time we got to see one live, DS was in pre-school and did a lovely one that started in the present day with an extension to the Bethlehem Holiday Inn unearthing an ancient stable and a crown, the Bethlehem Archaeology Society shutting down the building works and then a segue into telling the traditional story. That was perfect.

DD's (religious but very inclusive) primary school very much does a "proper" nativity each year; various ones actually for different age ranges. Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, 3 wise men, shepherds, angels, a donkey, an ox etc - the lot. They also sing religious (child-friendly) songs. In KS2 it's even in a church.
They also have weekly worship on a Friday morning with a vicar.

I guess there could be something distasteful about a poor young woman (possibly in her early teens according to some scholars) being impregnated by an omnipotent cosmic deity who has already demonstrated his petulance elsewhere in the Old Testament when he doesn't get his way.

Sing carols at home or take them to church? Unless it’s a religious school it seems odd to do a religious play, so they do other plays from other religions at other points of the year?

This will be my last primary Christmas play, and the first in person one after Lockdown. I'm a little bit gutted that it's the slightly dull, chilly, Church nativity where most of the children are just in the choir or narrators rather than the fun, random pantomime ones they do in the school hall (three local schools take it in turns to use the church so every third year it's a traditional one)

Mine already take part in one at our Church where they play most of the parts as barely anyone goes to Sunday school, which is lovely and cosy.

I've just been to my daughter's nativity. No carols but basically was the traditional Christmas story with songs, adapted for young children. No mention of Santa.

They are a C of E school though, so have a carol service in church, and other events that cement the meaning of Christmas for the kids.

My older children went to a non-religious school and their nativities came in all shapes and sizes. There was always the Christmas story but a lot more modern. My middle daughter was a robot in her last year there. They still had an assembly with carols though.

I'm the same - and I went to a lot.

I can see with parts why and some were very funny.

They also haven't sung many of the traditional hymns - not just the Christmas ones but more generally. In an effort to make the music more relevant they have often sung pop songs instead.

I did with many other parents raise an eye brow with Fairy-tale of New York with original lyrics including slut on junk and faggot sung by whole primary school one Chistamas concert finding it a particular low point. I did a few years later see an AIBU thread on same thing - and did wonder how wide spread this had become.

DC was an alien one year.
WTH have aliens got to do with Christmas?

I find this sad. You’d think they could easily keep the main nativity thread and add some characters - the people of Bethlehem talking about how busy the town is, the census takers going around asking questions at the houses, merchants selling the gold, frankincense, myrrh to the kings, locals making food and taking it round to the barn, the animals could have a conversation (camels, donkey, sheep), astronomers noticing the star… that’s about 20 extra parts just there.

I don’t think the modern plays even have a good even split of roles in my experience.

Think yourself lucky OP. It could be worse.There was a thread on here the other day where Mary was going to go round slapping people. A bit of the nativity story that I must have missed!

Most people in the UK don’t go to church, don’t believe, so why would they have nativity in schools? We are practising catholics, we have nativity.

Ha you're so NBU. My Y1 is singing Reach for the Stars and Forever Young (We're not sure if this is part of some sort of play... he claims not but who can say!)

Does your school have a choir? My Y3 is in the school choir and they're doing various "civic events" where they sing carols and Christmas songs...

No nativity though! Big disappointment for DS who was angling to be cast as Balthazar (me neither!)

Ooh, quite a lot… Extraterrestrial beings, otherworldly happenings, strange visitations, etc.

Aliens - children playing younger children - woodland creature/snowman - someone who needs the nativity story explaining to them it's a plot device.

Means the so the naivety becomes a play with a play - means more parts a wider story and Mary and Joseph aren't the main parts.

The nativity/Downfall mash-up does sound particularly inspired - and not one I came across.

The C of E school my children first went to didn't do whole school play but it was two year groups - it was two form entry and 30 + in each class so 120 kids to find parts for - so even with kings servants people around town there was a need for more parts. Also meant most years I had three plays to attend - till we moved and that school, was much smaller had big enough hall to fit all the parents in and did at most two plays.

I want to see a traditional one too, my son had to dress up as a rock musician, how that fitted into Christmas I am still unsure....and our children go to a Catholic school.

Yep ours was very random, kids dressed up as wise men, shepherds and stars etc but no actual mention of what they were doing there, the whole plot centred on some elves singing songs about presents 😂

My children have been...
A camel (reception)
A sheep (yr1)
Background dancer (yr2)
Choir (yr3)

Page to the kings (nursery)
Mary (reception)
Angel (yr1)
Midwife (yr2)

Not one of these plays has had Away in a Manger. They have had some brilliant songs though....

I'm pretty happy to have had 8 completely different plays...

Plenty of places to learn and sing carols, home, church, Sunday school, carol concerts etc.
Non-faith schools are so many other things and the Christmas plays are a hoot! I've been in KS1 for 20 years and never been involved in a nativity, that's for nursery children ime.
The best Christmas play is The School Inspectors, basically Ofsted turning up in the middle of rehearsals with stressed-out teachers. 7 year olds playing teachers in the staff room is something I will never forget! Long live the Christmas play!

Notjusta · Today 10:41
YANBU - this in one of my pet hates. I think I've seen the traveling to another planet one - completely incomprehensible nonsense.
No one has a clue what is going on because the 'plays' are written to allow as many kids as possible to have a part (why??? Some kids are shit at performances and that's totally fine!).
I say this as a staunch atheist! But if you are going to do a nativity just do it properly. In fact I felt the Christmas with the aliens/another planet one one was actually some atheist trolling - combing two improbable stories in one!!

Ha ha! I get this, Nojusta.

I'm an agnostic but very culturally Christian (love Easter, Christmas etc). I've worked in primary and secondary schools, mainly state, but recently a big boys' independent school.

The primary was a church school and their nativities were pretty traditional and went down well. The intake was almost entirely white British and either churchgoers or those sympathetic to Christianity.

Not a nativity play, but a similar issue, I think:
The boys' independent school had an intake of well over half non-white British - a good mix of Jewish boys and many with Indian or south Asian heritage, but the school was nominally Christian. The parents were keen for their sons to go there and were fine with this - in fact, talking to the boys, most of those from non-Christian backgrounds celebrated Christmas in a secular way at home. We then got a very trendy chaplain, and he changed the annual service of 9 lessons and carols( which the parents loved) to a weird, vague, political, almost non-religious assemblage of videos and strange non-Christmassy readings. Only the carols remained, and he re-wrote the words of some of those!

I used to think - if I were attending a religious event from another faith, I would want to learn about it and therefore would prefer to see a traditional rendition. What some of the non-Christian families made of it all, I don't know. They must have gone away thinking 'This Christmas....what the hell is it about?'

What church do you attend? Maybe you could start researching churches that provide a kids’ club or a good Sunday school. They will almost certainly learn Away in a Manger there.

Agree!

I'm not religious but come on!

But I still don't get how Christian schools can leave out the nativity play. I totally get how the public schools can go with a modern type message, after all they are catering for a wide range of faiths and backgrounds.