As annual school nativity play season gets under way, survey shows baby Jesus being edged out to make room for Elvis, spacemen, footballers and Lord Sugar. Christianity is being banished from school nativity plays as the annual performance of the Christmas story is replaced with bland ‘winter celebrations’, research among parents suggests. Even in schools which retain religious themes, most now opt for a modernised version of the nativity story, often featuring elaborate twists and children dressed as unlikely additions such as punk fairies, aliens, Elvis, lobsters, spacemen and even recycling bins. Examples cited in the survey conducted by Netmums, the parenting website, even included a retelling of the story modelled on The Apprentice. Others told of children dressed as ingredients in a Christmas lunch including carrots, sprouts and – confusingly – pumpkins. Meanwhile, one in eight had said their children’s school had dropped the Christmas story altogether for a modern alternative without religious references.