Christmas: Lisburn school pupils star in their own nativity movie

There was no room at the inn for most traditional school nativity plays last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

But this Christmas, parents of children at a primary school in Lisburn, County Down, are handing over their best tea towels again for the school's very own nativity movie.

Riverdale Primary School's ambitious project is made up of 23 separately filmed scenes and 12 songs, all performed by pupils from primary one through to primary four, in socially-distanced bubbles.

Planning began in October but putting those plans in place proved difficult, due to ongoing coronavirus restrictions.

"The hardest thing then was trying to work out what could we actually do," said primary three teacher, Victoria McKee.

"We wanted to choose one plan and stick with it, not knowing what way restrictions would be.

This is the first time some of the school pupils will have performed in a nativity

"I know some schools had initially planned to have parents come in but then had to go back and cancel those plans.

"I'm glad that we decided to record from the word go - it's worked out really well for us in the end."

Innkeeper's guitar lessons

Filming took place over a week, with pupils pulled out of classes and countless costume changes.

A timetable had to be made to make sure that filming sessions would not interrupt extra-curricular music lessons and daily school activities.

During that time, Ms McKee found herself sending, and receiving some very strange text messages.

"I was planning out a rota to sort out recordings and I sent the primary four teacher a text - possibly the most bizarre text I've ever sent - 'Do Mary and Joseph get guitar lessons?'

"She replied, 'No, but I think the innkeepers do'."

The primary three teacher, Victoria McKee, has taken the lead in recording and editing the movie

For pupils in primaries one and two, it is their school nativity debut.

But for some of the pupils in primary three, it felt like their first time too as they did not remember much from their first nativity, which was in primary one, Ms McKee explained.

School principal Andy Burns said he was keen to ensure his pupils would be able to have the opportunity to take part in a festive production in a safe way.

"It's an important part of getting excited in the build up to Christmas," he told BBC News NI.

"Although we can't have them in, giving a recording to the grandparents and parents will hopefully help them get into the spirit of the season."

'The sheep were playing rock, paper, scissors'

While the teachers did their best to find the perfect shots to pull together for the nativity video, it was during the editing process that some hidden gems were unearthed.

"I think my take-home moment was when Victoria said she thought we had the perfect shot for one scene and then we realised two of the sheep were playing rock, paper, scissors," said Mr Burns.

"I remember thinking, 'sheep don't know how to play rock paper scissors - they haven't got fingers'," said Ms McKee.

"When I'm looking back at the scenes you can definitely see plenty of nose picking going on during the songs," she added.

"I'm not editing those out, all those little things that happen on the stage are staying in."

Mr Burns added: "Half of the charm of it is seeing their individual characters.

"We're not looking for Broadway or Oscar-winning performances, we're looking for children to have an opportunity to perform on stage."

• No plans to close schools early for Christmas

• 'Challenging' situation in NI schools

While the challenges have been plenty, the new approach has had its creative benefits.

"We can zoom in on a child every time they have a line so parents and grandparents can get a really good view of their starring moment," said Ms McKee.

The teachers involved in staging and directing the play have also been able to elevate the production with more props and scenery changes which would not have been possible in normal circumstances. They have even managed to squeeze a Christmas tree on stage.

"We usually have the stage packed with children so you're very limited in terms of how much moving space there is," said Ms McKee.

But the one thing that could not be replaced was the buzz of performance day.

"You miss the atmosphere of show day, the nerves when they're all standing lined up in the corridor in their costumes waiting to get on," said Ms McKee.

Mr Burns says that nervous energy "quite often brings out the best in the children".

"In times gone by, the day or two before the show, teachers are sometimes nervous that it's not quite there.

"Then when the audience are coming in, the kids tend to rise to the occasion."

While Mr Burns says the traditional on-stage way of doing the nativity is still the firm favourite, he is excited for the pupils and their families to see their performances.

"If the kids get to see themselves up on a big screen and have a smile and a laugh with a bit of Christmas about it, then it will be worth it," he added.