Do schools still do Nativity plays these days?

[FuriousGeorge]

Or are they not the thing now? DD1 is in reception & their Christmas play is about a snowman!

I went to the same school in the 1970's & we always had a Nativity.It is a little rural school with a high percentage of farming families & a good relationship with the village church.
DH & I are very disappointed at not getting to see DD & her classmates with tea towels on their heads pretending to be shepherds.

Is this the norm these days?

ours do it, and the nursery class version of the traditional is absolutely hilarious.

Our DS1 is now y2, and theirs is about the traditional story but from the perspective of a star (?) i think. It is not a church school, and i think they have got it about right for the children and families who are in their catchment.

ah yes the teatowels on heads....

Our cathedral has an annual service where anyone can go along and dress up as anyone from the Christmas story. Last year DS1 went as the innkeeper and was a huge hit because no-one else was him (about 15 Marys and a host of angels ) so he go a solo line as well!

Well to answer yr question, yes some schools certainly do. Often a version of it to make it more funny/interesting/etc. Last year DD did Mary's Knitting in which Mary had to knit a shawl.

Judging from our local paper which does pix of them all plenty have teatowels and a baby doll etc etc.

you could dress your DC in tea towels if you really wanted...

My DC's achool infants does a full-on musical production. Tis very sweet. Reception dress up and act, Yr1 are the be-teatowelled choir, and Yr2 narrate and provide the 'orchestra'. [where's a christmas smiley when you need one]

funniest book to read on this subject is called 'a wayne in a manger' by gervaise phinn, so funny, full of tales from infant nativity plays

yes, mine have done 'Whoops a daisy angel' 'the very hopeless camel' and the 'Hoity toity angel'

the littleies 'act' out the parts, and the older kids do the words. they all sing

Ours does a straight nativity play. Last year the Reception class opened the proceedings by singing "Twinkle twinkle little star". DD's end of the row finished a whole bar before the other end of the row. I was so proud

The year 1 kids had the tea-towels, sheepskins and dodgy crowns. The year 2 kids each had a line to narrate. Without exception, they all held their words upside down and then solemnly turned them over before reading them.

Bless em all!

Our Foundation classes do the Nativity.

Yrs 1 & 2 do a Christmas play, last year was Pete the Penguin.

Yrs 3 & 4 do a musical, Joseph this year I think.

Yrs 5 & 6 do a summer concert instead.

DD2 was Mary in her nativity play last year when she was in Reception. We live in a culturally diverse area of Outer London and the hall was packed with parents - and most of us had tears in our eyes at one time or another. dd2 has speech problems and her line "This is Jesus, the son of God" as she showed off her baby (doll) came out as "the son of dog" - but nobody cared.

Schools are forever looking for a new angle on Christmas. There are loads of publications about, but most of them are the Christmas story in disguise/jazzed up. We seem to be torn between wanting to keep the tradition, but also to be aware of PC sensitivities on the subject. My experience is, however, if you veer too far from the traditional, most parents don't like it - and I'm with them, actually. But then, it may depend on where you live.

Our school is and my son is King 2.

Thankyou all for your input.The children at the school are not very culturally diverse,so I don't think the school is worried about offending anyone.But I will be seeing the headmaster at the school Beetle Drive on Thursday,so will mention how disappointed we are.Am also tempted to rile up the other mums,as I've a feeling most of them were looking forward to a traditional nativity.

Have you read the play? It could be about a snowman who goes on holiday to Bethlehem...

We are also in a "culturally diverse" part of London and at a non-denominational school and tend to have nativity plays with a "slant" - more "The Best Gift of All is Love"-type thing than actual nativity although there have always been all the main elements of the traditional nativity in it.

This year seems to be a trip round the world looking for the baby Jesus. DS (very obviously Northern European) is being a Native American and we are so right on that, entertainingly, DS's best mate, who is Korean, is being a Swiss person!

Ds gets to wear a headdress and say "How!" so I'm happy to forego the tea-towel.

Snort at the muticulturally-authentic-and -sensitive 'How!'

DS's Lambeth primary did a nativity last year, and this year seem to be doing 'Christmas in differnt lands' - (totalling Spain and Africa, as far as I can gather).

DS is 'a Spanish Dancer'.

I expect they will rign the changes every year.

LOL! Yes - I have now found out that Yr1 are including USA...must be the same one.

Ds1 will have nativity at the end of term and also a school play at the end of this month. The nativity is just for year 1 and reception.