This year, Chinese New Year landed on Saturday 10th February 2024. This week marked the beginning of our Themed week for Chinese New Year and our fourth Religious and Cultural Celebration of this Academic year. This year is the ‘Year of the Dragon’.
Chinese New Year, also called Lunar New Year, is an annual 15-day festival in China, and for Chinese communities around the world, that begins with the new moon that occurs sometime between January 21st and February 20th in modern calendars. Festivities last until the following full moon.
Celebrations to usher out the old year and bring forth the luck and prosperity of the new one, often include firecrackers, fireworks, and red clothes and decorations. Young people are given money in colourful red envelopes. In addition, Chinese New Year is a time to feast and to visit family members. Many of the traditions of the season honour relatives who have died. Since the dragon is a Chinese symbol of good fortune, a dragon dance is the highlight of festival celebrations in many areas. This procession involves a long colourful dragon being carried through the streets by numerous dancers.
This week pupils have been learning about this important celebration with their form classes. Some classes have been using online resources to find out their Chinese Zodiac Symbol, others have been watching videos to complement their learning. Year 7 and Primary pupils have made colourful dragon fortunes to display in their rooms.
To further complement our Theme week, Year 10 pupils visited the China exhibition at the British Museum followed, by a visit to China Town where pupils were treated to a traditional Chinese lunch. Everyone had a wonderful day.
Our dedicated and hard-working Catering Team, decorated the Dining Hall to represent the spirit of the New Lunar Calendar and delighted all the pupils and staff with an array of authentic Chinese food. This included Special Fried Rice, Prawn Crackers, Sweet & Sour Chicken and Black Bean and Stir-Fried Vegetables. Each pupil was given a Fortune Cookie to read.