Chinese New Year was celebrated in style at Robert Miles Junior School on Wednesday 29th January with many exciting activities.
This year marks the year of the wood snake which traditionally means people born in this year are charming, deep-thinking, wise and graceful.
Our school, based in the heart of Bingham just off the Market Place, serves an increasingly diverse catchment with many children in our community coming from Hong Kong. This was a great opportunity to celebrate customs from around the world and bring Chinese traditions into school.
A New Year banner on the school gates welcomed children and parents, beautiful decorations adorned the school inside and staff wore red, gold and authentic dress to honour the festivities. The day began with a colourful assembly led by Year 5 children: Adrian, Athena, Billy, Lucas and Yanyu, who talked about customs, decorations and traditional foods. The assembly was in both Cantonese and English as the children expertly taught us all how to say important phrases in both languages. This encouraged children throughout the day to practise the Cantonese language.
During the day, Year 3s created bright red and gold twirling snake decorations that will bring good luck for the year ahead. Year 4s enjoyed a fascinating drama workshop, led by Aly Greenway, which looked at the history of Chinese writing and traditions such as cleaning the house to sweep away bad luck and encourage fresh beginnings. Children then re-enacted a traditional Chinese story where local villagers scared away a beast with their bright colours, loud instruments and vibrant dragon-dance. Year 5s took part in a wonderful workshop, led by Mr and Mrs Kwong, who taught the children how to write New Year wishes on beautiful red banners using calligraphy. Year 6s created enchanting Chinese masks which sparkled with glitter and beautiful gems.
At lunchtime the hall was transformed into a Chinese banquet with music, banners and bright red and gold tablecloths. Our wonderful kitchen and midday staff created delicious chicken chow mein, vegetable chow mein and manadarin oranges in jelly, which children and staff enjoyed together. As always, the adults were very impressed with how expertly the children ate with their chopsticks!
Special thanks must go to Mrs Tang (Teacher in Year 5 and 6) and Mrs Tsang (Teaching assistant) who put up all the beautiful decorations, brought in traditional dress for staff to wear and organised the day’s activities. Thank you to all the parents who came in and helped make the celebrations extra special. All children went home with a ‘lacey’ (a traditional red packet filled with a sweet treat) and a fortune cookie to enjoy. It was wonderful to share Chinese culture and traditions together and we look forward to celebrating this very special occasion in school every year.
If you would like to come and look round our school please email the headteacher, Mr Evelyn on [email protected].
Written by Debbie Alcock, Deputy Headteacher at Robert Miles
Junior School