The rise of the virtual school nativity
With coronavirus continuing to cause disruption, many schools have opted to hold a virtual school nativity this year to continue this much-loved tradition.
Traditionally, Christmas is one of the busiest times in the school year with activities like school fayres, carol singing, and (last but definitely not least) the school nativity taking place throughout December. Coronavirus brought huge disruption to school life in 2020 and 2021, but we were pleased to see that schools were as keen as ever to carry on with the nativity!
In this article, we look at how schools were able to rethink the usual stage performance in favour of a virtual school nativity. Even though we are hopefully now back to normal and able to host live nativity plays again, the innovative solutions from recent years may help inspire other events that need to reach an online audience.
The origins of the nativity
Believe it or not, the tradition of the nativity play dates all the way back to 1223! Since then, it’s become a well-established fixture in the festive calendar of most UK primary schools. Re-enacting the birth of Jesus, with little ones in starring roles, helps teach kids why we celebrate Christmas. It’s also a great chance for schools to flex their creative muscles.
The nativity ‘with a twist’
During the pandemic, it wasn’t possible to host a conventional school nativity play for health reasons. Despite this, a host of schools came up with alternative ways to continue this much-loved tradition! Here are some of the solutions they found:
1) The whole-school performance
Many schools filmed individual classes acting out a scene or singing a song. The various scenes were then edited together to create a virtual school nativity film. Schools shared the performances with parents and community members using social media or tools like Google Classroom.
2) The livestream performance
Other schools acted out scenes in bubbles and ivestreamed them to parents. There are some helpful resources that teachers used to help structure their nativity play according to the number of kids involved.
3) The straight-to-DVD performance
Schools that felt livestreaming was too ambitious chose to create a nativity DVD instead. After filming the scenes and editing, the DVD could be shared with the audience!
Of course, none of this would be possible without technology. Equipment such as school iPads can be great tools for film-making and editing, as they can shoot full HD video. Whilst the iPad Pro is the best option for film-making (with features such as twin cameras, continuous video auto-focus, and optical image stabilisation), the standard iPad and iPad mini are also capable of shooting and editing standard HD. You can even buy handy accessories like external microphones, lights, and clamps and cases to attach your iPad to a tripod for filming – to avoid the risk of wobbly footage!
At Utility Rentals, we applaud the positive “the show must go on” spirit that schools have shown with their virtual school nativity performances! The school nativity is a great tradition and seeing the little ones act always brings a smile to our faces.
For more ideas about modernising traditional elements of school life, read our piece about ideas for fun primary school assemblies.
If you need help with new school iPads, we offer a range of models via our flexible budget-friendly rental agreements, contact us today to find out more!
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