Any thoughts of bad luck on Friday 13th were balanced out by St Michael’s School pupils when they celebrated Chinese New Year.
In China the colour red is considered “lucky” so pupils in year one donned all shades of scarlet through to crimson for the day as they learnt about the culture.
The youngsters had been building up to the celebrations all week, starting |last Monday when they were introduced |to the traditional Chinese story “The Lion Dance.”
The children retold the story, using their acting skills and percussion instruments, and completed art work of the monster, the Nian.
They also made shadow puppets of the main characters, which they then used used to retell the story.
Other Chinese activities the children completed over the week included a chopstick challenge, Chinese restaurant role-play, Chinese writing, lantern making, performing a Chinese Lion Dance – with a large Chinese lion head – and learning from online clips about how Chinese New Year is celebrated.
Class teacher Suzanne Bray said: “The children now know many facts about the celebrations.”
Last Friday, not only did the youngsters wear red but also swept the bad luck out of the classroom with brooms, before cleaning and decorating the rooms.
They then enjoyed tasting Chinese food in the afternoon, which parents had brought in. There was a large selection to taste, |including homemade fortune cookies, spring rolls, duck pancakes, banana dumplings, dried fruit, oranges and Chinese sweets.
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