Our Chinese New Year celebration was a whole school event with children from Reception up to Year 6 following an off-timetable day. 'Happy New Year' written in Mandarin and displayed on the board welcomed children to class and an assembly introduced the context of the day. Following this, a range of cultural activities were planned and carried out across year groups and in classes. 

In class activities included learning about New Year Traditions, religion, Chinese calligraphy and language lessons. In Key Stage One, the focus was on the animals of the Chinese zodiac calendar, sketching Chinese letters and learning about the significance of the ‘red envelope’. 

Key Stage Two children took part in a traditional Lion Dance workshop with outside providers and were delighted to perform wearing the lion costume in the Dance Studio. In class, they experimented with using chopsticks, learned about Chinese beliefs in lucky and unlucky numbers, made lanterns and listened to Chinese stories. 

Mandarin speaking staff supported language learning in some classes and Chinese students were invited to teach alongside their adults.

As a school, we strive to look at all the experiences we provide for our children through an international lens and to carefully plan regular activities to draw attention to the wider world.