That time of year is approaching and as usual we’re here to try and make the planning and preparations for your Christmas a little bit less ‘stress-mas’. So, allow us to introduce you to our biggest and newest contenders for your carol concerts as well as some older, traditional classics! Whatever your Christmas celebrations look like – whether you’re in the classroom or assembly hall, out in the community or planning a church service, we’ve got you covered.

The Christmas season is a great opportunity for putting on a performance in school – a good sing is always lots of fun and when it’s coupled with the festive mood, it’s sure to create plenty of excitement! We all love a re-telling of the familiar nativity story but what else might you consider? At Out of the Ark, you’ll find lots of production ideas with our primary school Christmas plays and Christmas musicals – and don’t forget our popular panto-style productions. Whether you’re looking for an adaptation of a classic story, an original story, or a funny Christmas play, there’s something to suit lots of tastes and traditions!

We were so excited to get an email from Alison McDonough from West Rainton Primary School, telling us how the school were putting on a production of A Fireside Nativity alongside their local care home and it was due to be filmed by Songs Of Praise! Bringing people together is just one of the fabulous reasons we love writing nativities every year, so we were really pleased that Alison agreed to answer some of our questions, hopefully giving you an insight into what it takes to put on an event like this.

It’s that time of year again when you want your school nativity performance to be one to remember – for all the right reasons! Here are some top tips to get you thinking creatively about how you might give your nativity some extra sparkle.

Some of us have secretly been wearing Christmas socks since June (guilty!) and others will be blocking out all adverts, merchandise and music with any festive relevance until the last week of the school term! Either way, we’re on the home stretch and things are truly in full festive swing. This is such a great time of year to take a step back from the chaos (easier said than done, we know) and have a think about what you’re grateful for this year, and this Christmas. To encourage and support you and your class in all your ‘gratitudes’, we’ve come up with ‘The 12 yays of Christmas’, with different songs and themes for you to get stuck into and be inspired by – whether it’s to kick your day off with a joyful assembly song, or end it on a high note and send your class home singing!

If you are used to putting on a nativity or festive show at your school, you will already know the many benefits it has on school life – hearing classrooms and the hall ring with children’s voices for weeks as they practise the songs again and again; having all members of staff involved in the making of the set, costumes and props; bringing children, staff and parents together for the annual joyous celebration… the list goes on. But here are a few other ideas you might like to consider, to bring your performance to the wider community.

Putting on a nativity is a staple in the school calendar for SO many of us – why not make this year’s show, and the shows to follow, a little more eco-friendly? Here are some top tips for making your nativity more sustainable.

While there’s no step-by-step, generic recipe for creating our pantos, there are certainly a lot of ingredients that go in, and each has its own flavour, texture and twist. From the songwriters to the audience, it takes a lot of people to pull everything together along the way. Some of the ingredients come in the box and others you’ll need to provide. And just like a cake, things might not always go to plan, but that’s part of the fun! May Contain: Standing ovations, booing, hissing, cheering and toe-tapping, in true panto-style!

Putting on a nativity takes hours of preparation and hours of rehearsal, and if you’re running late this year, you may be panicking about how to fit it all in. You still have time! And here are seven handy hints on how to put on a nativity in less time than usual.

Performing in a nativity or musical can be a highlight of the school year for some children, but for others the anxiety of performing on stage in front of an audience can prevent them from enjoying what should be a very special experience. Managing performance anxiety early on and building confidence can release children into pursuing their passions and reaching their potential in later life, but where do we start? Dealing with nerves shouldn’t be something that is just addressed on the day of the performance; there are things we can do during rehearsal time to lessen the impact of stage fright on the big day as well as more specific things that we can do just before we go on stage.

A Fireside Nativity provides all the charm, fun and wit you need to put on a fantastic show, but setting the scene for all the senses will create an immersive retelling of the Nativity story. Here are our top tips for creating a multi-sensory campfire setting. Not all of these will be practical for every school, but we hope they will spark some imagination!

At Out of the Ark Music, we love nativities (we’ve published over 50 of them)! Every year, we love to see and hear about all the fantastic performances schools put on up and down the country. We feel really privileged to help schools reap the amazing benefits of this festive tradition. But why should YOU do an Out of the Ark Music nativity this year? Let us tell you why…

At Out of the Ark Music we think one of the best ways to get into the Christmas spirit is with Christmas music! With everyone in their separate bubbles, creating a Christmas playlist to use in every classroom around the school is a great way to keep the spirit of whole-school togetherness alive. 

Here at Out of the Ark we have loved hearing the innovative ways in which schools are still managing to put a show on this Christmas, in spite of the many challenges this year – including one school that is hiring a stable and performing outside! However, if you don’t happen to have any farm buildings available(!), here are some tips on how to go about filming your nativity, whether you are working in one or more separate bubbles, singing or not singing.

Out of the Ark Music Christmas school assembly songs and songbooks have been delighting schools for many years. They are a fabulous opportunity to create your own Christmas concert to suit your needs, or indeed choose just a few of your favourites for a great school assembly or Christmas classroom sing-along. The scope for performance opportunities is wide, so we have created 3 playlist suggestions from our most popular Christmas songbooks packed with wonderful primary school songs and songs for younger years to give you an idea of how you may like to form your Christmas concert this year. The playlists are by no means exhaustive but give you a great place to start. So, grab a Santa hat, stand up straight, take a deep breath and get ready to put on the greatest concert of the year!