MOST primary schools in Oxford have this year opted to stage modern versions of Christmas plays with less of a religious element.

Gone is the annual dilemma of which children will play Mary and Joseph and parents dressing child shepherds in old bed sheets - schools are buying in scripts for plays like Baboushka and Hosanna Rock! which feature a small nativity section.

We contacted 35 primary schools in and around the city, and found the majority were staging modern reinterpretations of the traditional Christmas story.

Only a handful were putting on traditional versions of the Nativity.

Children at St Nicholas's Primary School in Old Marston are performing The Hoity-Toity Angel, while New Marston Primary School is staging a Nativity play in which the Three Wise Men participate in an X-Factor-style audition.

Botley Primary School children are performing the Snow Queen, while youngsters at John Fisher are acting out a Nativity which incorporates Scrooge.

Wood Farm Primary School is staging three plays - including the Snow Queen. Deputy headteacher Gail Connelly said: "We are a multi-cultural school and find it is nice to do something that is not always based around religion."

Although many productions include the Nativity among their scenes, there are fears traditional Christian teachings are being watered down.

Schools expert Terence Copley, Professor of Educational Studies at Oxford University, said: "If schools are avoiding telling the Christmas story then they are failing in their responsibility to educate children about the most significant narrative in our culture.

"And that affects children whatever religion they are.

"Sometimes schools avoid it because they are oversensitive because they don't want to offend people of other faiths.

"In the long run, children have the right to decide whether they want to be religious - how are they going to decide if we don't tell them the stories?"

Darrell Wood, headteacher of Cutteslowe Primary School which is staging A Lamb and a Surprise, said: "One thing parents say to us is they don't want the same thing year in, year out.

"We are putting on a play that takes the best of both worlds, an exciting Christmas performance that incorporates a Nativity scene at the end."

Chris Phillips, head- teacher of Orchard Meadow Primary School, added: "We are a multi-faith school, but we are a very inclusive school and families are happy their children are involved in celebrations in the build up to Christmas - almost without exception."