Watching your child perform in their first school nativity is a tear-jerking moment for parents - yet fewer headteachers are allowing proud mums and dads to take photos of their little ones on stage.

Schools across Greater Manchester leave the decision up to individual heads but new figures show that, nationally, just 38 pc of schools allow parents to freely take snap away. One in six ban cameras altogether.

Martin Henderson, head teacher of Westmorland Primary in Brinnington, Stockport, said a ban on photos denies families treasure memories.

He said: “I think it’s important parents have mementos of their children’s years in school. These are proud memories that families will treasure for years.

“It’s a balancing act for schools because you want to allow parents to celebrate those special moments in their children’s school lives. However, you also have a duty to parents or guardians who do not want their child’s picture published anywhere.

“We allow photographs at our nativity performances but we do ask family members to not post any of their pictures on social media sites. What we don’t want are pictures of someone else’s child being put on Facebook without the consent of other parents.”

A third of schools now ask parents to sign forms stating they will not share snaps on social media sites. All of the local authorities in Greater Manchester say it is up to individual schools to set a policy on taking photographs during Christmas plays.

The Netmums survey also found that only third of schools now hold a traditional nativity at Christmas time. Siobhan Freegard from Netmums said: “Nothing makes a parent prouder than seeing their child on stage at the Christmas concert, but like Nativity plays, this tradition is dying out.

“While mums and dads recognise the need to ensure images of kids are used appropriately, a complete ban on cameras from festive plays seems excessive. While some schools ban cameras during the performance so the audience can watch in peace, they offer a short photo opportunity at the end.

“However, many parents feel aggrieved they are asked to sign consent forms for the school to use pictures of their child on its own website while they are banned altogether from taking snaps to share with friends and family.

“Schools need to implement a sensible policy to ensure parents can capture these precious childhood moments and share they joy of seeing their child on stage.”

The greatest story ever told (minus the religious bit)

The greatest story ever told is now often told with one theme greatly diminished - the actual nativity.

Only a third of schools in a national survey now hold a traditional nativity play at Christmas time. The most common school Christmas celebration (for more than half of all schools) is now an ‘updated nativity’ with modern characters including recycling bins, footballers and punk fairies.

The show is not even called the nativity anymore with many schools calling it a ‘Winter Celebration’ ‘Seasonal Play’ or ‘End of Year Concert’ instead. The most common school Christmas celebration is now an ‘updated nativity’ with modern characters including footballers and punk fairies.

New modern Christmas plays have a whole host of characters so that instead of shepherds and angels, children are just as likely to be cast as aliens, recycling bins, a Sir Alan Sugar-style ‘Lord Christmas’, punk fairies, Elvis, footballers, a lobster, a napkin, carrots, sprouts, a pumpkin and a drunken spaceman.

But despite its decline, there is overwhelming pressure from parents to continue the tradition of a Christmas Nativity play. Almost two thirds (65%) of parents whose school doesn’t hold a traditional nativity would like it to, with just one in five (22 per cent) feeling the Nativity is ‘unimportant’. A further 13 per cent planned to teach their child the Christmas story at home.

Whatever the Christmas play, parents still want their child to have a starring role. One in nine parents quizzed had witnessed other mums pressuring teachers to give their child a main part while a further quarter (26%) suspected it went on at their school. And 14 per cent confessed to being ‘upset and disappointed’ by the part allocated to their child in the school Christmas play.