A JUNIOR school’s Christmas play has sparked anger among parents because of its use of the word “scum” in song lyrics. Some parents also say another song could be interpreted as having lines attacking travellers and are threatening to keep their children at home during performances.

One mother was called “Scummy Mummy” by her seven-year-old daughter returning home from rehearsals. The alternative play, staged by Spinnens Acre Junior School in Lordswood, Chatham, is meant to have a moral message, particularly tackling prejudice against outsiders in a community.

The play has caused a split of opinion among parents. Some say the language is too strong for the seven to nine-year-olds and it could accidentally turn them against travellers staying nearby. Others, though, say they see nothing wrong with it.

One parents, Lorna Burgess, 31, said: “My seven-year-old daughter came home and called me ‘Scummy Mummy’. I could not believe what I was hearing. I asked her where she heard the word and she told me she was learning it for her school play. I then read the song sheet and was dumfounded. The songs disgust me and I am not going allow my child to take part in the play. I am not sending her to school that day. I am not the only parent who feels this way.”

The play is about the fourth wise man, who arrives too late to travel with the other three with their gifts for the baby Jesus. As the fourth man travels, he encounters injustice in several forms along the way. The play has one song titled Pay Up, You Scum.

The other song to offend some parents is called Get Out! Move On!. They say it could be confused by children as an attack on travellers, some of whom are already staying nearby at the end of North Dane Way. Its lines include: “We don’t want some scruffy neighbour moving in next door. Take your jumble, junk and boxes, and your children too. Go away, get out of here, there’s no place here for you." Another line says: “We don’t want your grubby children mixing with our own”.

The school's head teacher, Gwen Thomas, has sent a letter to the homes of anxious parents explaining the moral messages behind the play. She said: "The songs were from a professional play with a very strong moral message running through it. The school is sorry if any wording has caused offence but does believe the strong moral tale running through the story was important."

She said all the children involved had had the moral theme explained to them and they understand that the poor behaviour depicted in the story was not condoned by the school and neither was it for them to copy.

She aded: "There is absolutely no swearing in the play, which has been seen all over the country, with some very positive feedback."