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From 4th to 11th February, staff and students across the Lower School and Sixth Form took part in a series of events and workshops to mark the Chinese New Year, which fell on 1st February. With Mandarin a compulsory subject for all students in Years 7 and 8, Chinese culture has a special place within the KPS curriculum, and it was wonderful to see students from across the Lower School and Sixth Form coming together to explore and celebrate Chinese traditions.
The week kicked-off with a special Lunar New Year assembly led by Ms Lu, during which students learnt about the legend of the beast, Nian; the significance of lighting firecrackers; and why red is such an important colour during Chinese New Year.
Staff and students then came to together to vote for the KPS Character of the Year. With six characters to choose from, the winning character was crowned 乐 (yuè or lè), meaning 'music' or 'cheerful'. The choice of character reflects the KPS community’s optimism for a happy and cheerful year ahead in 2022!
Tuesday’s Chinese New Year Art Club, led by Miss Akinci, was dedicated to mono-prints on the theme, and inspired a Chinese New Year Art competition which took place over the course of the week. Students from across Years 7 to 11 were inspired to create an artwork representing the Year of the Tiger using predominant colours of red and gold.
On Wednesday, students from across the Lower School and Sixth Form enjoyed workshops on Chinese Dance and Calligraphy led by the fantastic team from the Confucius Institute, part of Goldsmiths University. Students also enjoyed a special Chinese New Year lunch in the restaurant, with delicious Dim Sum provided by local restaurant Ping Pong. Having indulged their taste buds with Sichuan chicken wings, beef den den noodles, spring rolls and sweet soup, students themselves turned their hand to cooking with a dumpling making workshop on Thursday. The results were greatly enjoyed by all!
The week was rounded off by a paper cutting workshop on Friday, which saw some beautiful results.
Our week of Lunar New Year celebrations at KPS saw a myriad of workshops and activities spanning multiple departments and year groups. Taking their learning beyond the classroom, students from across the School came together to acquire new skills and explore their creativity as they immersed themselves in Chinese culture.
A huge thank you to Ms Lu and Ms Chen for organising such a fantastic week to welcome the Year of the Tiger! We look forward to seeing where 2022 takes our school community!