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Is there room at the inn for the traditional nativity play in schools any more?

Across the UK at the moment, teachers are busy with their pupils learning songs and lines, creating costumes and stage props, and spending hours of time rehearsing with the children for THE ‘sell-out gig of the year’: the Christmas production.

But with society growing ever more diverse, Patrick Wenham, Headmaster at Bickley Park School (also great-great-great grandson of John Mason Neale, who wrote the famous and popular carol ‘Good King Wenceslas’, discusses trends in winter celebration plays, and the role of the traditional nativity.

Patrick says: “It’s easy to become a curmudgeon as you get older about how things change and evolve that previously might have been considered sacrosanct. However, one of the things that working with younger children for many years has taught me is that, no matter what your role in a school is, you must continue to nurture and share a child’s sense of wonder in the world. Nothing does this better than at this time of year, especially among younger children who still believe in ‘you know who’.

As a schools’ inspector of a dozen years, one of the aspects of the school’s workings I must report on is ‘SMSC’: Spiritual, Social, Moral, and Cultural learning opportunities. The most difficult area within this must be the ‘Spiritual’ learning element as it’s so very hard to judge. As inspectors, we are encouraged to look for activities that inspire ‘awe and wonder’ in children and, in my experience, Christmas is a time when awe and wonder amongst children at school is evident in abundance (along with a lot of excitement!)

I know I am not alone in groaning inwardly when Christmas gets its first mention after the children have just started to settle into a new school year, but, in the retail world, it seems to get earlier and earlier. The rampant commercialism that precedes December 25th can strangle any sense of awe and wonder and leave goodwill to all men out in the cold. Maybe this is why there is so much hype in the run up to the large supermarkets airing their television advertising campaign each year, as, for just one minute, we are transported away and buy back into the magic of the season.

Likewise, some groan inwardly when they see the story of the first Christmas hijacked by weird and wonderful variations of the biblical tale. I am sure Joseph and Mary would have raised an eyebrow too if the following characters from modern day nativities had called in at the stable: a secret agent, a worm, a space alien, a double glazing salesman, a giant raisin, a belly dancer, and a bungalow!

Yet Christmas is a time when a sense of wonder is truly evident in schools and this can be seen in the sparkle in the children’s eyes.

Most children naturally have passionate natures and an unencumbered sense of celebration of an occasion such as Christmas. This is conveyed most fully in a school nativity and shared by all involved, including parents and teaching staff.

Here, at Bickley Park School, we offer a diverse selection of Christmas performances from every year group, both traditional and contemporary, so there’s something for everyone’s taste.

We feel that the nativity has an important part to play at Christmas in schools and works beautifully with younger children, but it’s also a good time to explore and expose children to some of the other marvellous stories and musicals available. The most important thing to do is make performances magical for everyone.

Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus still sit at the centre of most modern versions of the Christmas story, reminding children and adults of the simple wonder of the creation of new life, and encouraging a sense of the spiritual well-being experienced 2000 years ago in a rough and ready stable. However, in my experience, the diverse characters that appear in contemporary nativities add to the sense of fun and joy which underpin the Christmas message conveyed in the nativity.

So, if there’s a zebra or sky diver portrayed in your nativity, just embrace how it has evolved, and keep that nativity spirit alive.

Bickley Park School is an independent pre and prep school for boys based in Bromley.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Harris .