I find that everytime inpress the power button in unlock the screen which puts the notifications in the banner and I can’t see them anymore.
I know it’s like a silly struggle, but on other phones I’ve had you can easily check your messages without unlocking the phone entirely.
I got Always on Edge (AoE) to get a proper inactivity display. Setting it up is a bit of work but it works nicely. I mostly use it to simulate a coloured notification ring around the punch hole.