IT’S that special time of year when parents flock to primary schools to see their children take to the stage as Mary, Joseph and the three wise men.

Youngsters have been dazzling their families with their renditions of the traditional nativity play following hours of rehearsals.

We are featuring three schools which submitted their nativity photographs to The Whitehaven News this week.

At St Bridget’s CE Primary School in Parton, children in nursery, reception, Year One and Year Two came together to perform ‘BAArmy Bethlehem’ - a traditional Nativity, with a modern twist.

Brittany Bell, nursery and reception teacher, said: “The children have all been brilliant and have particularly enjoyed learning the upbeat, catchy songs - especially the ‘Baa Baa Boogie’.”

At St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Kells, the Key Stage One children performed their Nativity story twice to sell-out crowds of family and friends in the school hall and finished each show with one of their favourite songs, ‘Dancing About in the Straw’.

The Key Stage Two children performed in a packed St Mary’s Church on Monday and Tuesday last week. They used a mixture of new and traditional Christmas songs and carols to accompany their re-telling of the Nativity story and their singing was described as ‘amazing’.

At St James’ C of E Infant School, early years children performed ‘Whoops-a-Daisy Angel’ - a story about a disorganised but loveable angel who is chosen to show the way to Bethlehem.

Key Stage One children performed ‘A Little Bird told me today’ - the story of a little Robin who joins a flock of birds flying south to visit a special baby and tells everyone the news along the way.

Headteacher Alex Moore said: “The children in the nativities were fabulous and the parents thoroughly enjoyed all of the performances. We would like to thank our families for their support as always and the staff for working so hard to put on the shows.”