Outraged parents criticise Peterborough area primary school after play teaches pupils about '˜boozing at Christmas'

Some mums and dads of nine-year-old pupils at the Duke of Bedford School in Thorney were not amused by the nativity in which children moan about parents getting drunk.

The ‘How Christmas Came To Be' production, which is due to be performed today, features children aged from 11 to as young as five.

One Year Five pupil plays a Viking called "Olaf" and exclaims: "We need to get ready for the feast and more importantly... the drinking."

Another pupil pleads as the casks are opened: "Please father. Don't put us through that again."

One nine-year-old begs with their "partner": "Please don't get like last year."

A dad of one of the pupils said: "It's disgusting. My daughter was asked to be a drunk person."

Another outraged parent said: "It's always been a bit off the wall but someone's taking it too far."

At one part in the script, two "daughters" talk about their dad's "famous home brew".

It reads:"After narrowly avoiding his wife with mistletoe Olaf says: Phew! That was a close call. Right, I'd better go and get those barrels of ale tapped.

Daughter 1: You're right Daddy. Solstice celebrations are not the same without your famous home brew!

Daughter 2: Don't you remember last year when Mother drank so much she...

(All guests enter the stage and are drinking and eating)

Aunty: Please don't get like last year.

Uncle: I don't know what you're talking about dear!

Children: Please father! Don't put us through that again!

Child 1: It was so embarrassing"

A former pupil, who now helps people battling alcoholism, said: “They’ve got to be joking.”

The school said the script was not written by teachers at the school due to "the time it takes to write an engaging script" and was instead written externally.

A spokesperson from the Duke of Bedford school in Thorney, said: "During one scene Viking adults pretend to drink and eat. At no point were children instructed to act drunk."

Many schools buy in ready-prepared festive productions to perform. The ‘How Christmas Came To Be’ production is available on the website of edgy productions - which produces a range of plays for schools.

On the edgy productions website, ‘How Christmas Came To Be’ is described as a musical journey through the ages, it says: “Take a musical journey through the ages and discover how the Christmas we know and love came to be.

“With plenty of comedy moments and catchy songs in a variety of styles, we travel from Ancient Rome right up to the 21st century, meeting some weird, wonderful, familiar and not-so-familiar characters on our journey!

“As we learn about old customs and see how they have shaped our modern Christmas, we are reminded that one message has always been at its heart… a little goodwill goes a long, long way!

“Informative and hugely entertaining, with scenes and songs that can be rehearsed independently by separate classes then brought together for performance, this musical is ideal for busy schools during a busy term!”