Next week, Princes Hill Primary School will be celebrating Chinese New Year. The Grade 1 neighbourhood will be exploring lots of different concepts relating to Chinese New Year.
Here is the letter that was emailed home to all of the PHPS parents…….
On Monday 8th February we will celebrate Chinese New Year by having a mini inquiry day across the school. Children will explore concepts such as: We all have a cultural story to tell that connects us to our past, present and future. Learning Neighbourhoods will undertake a series of investigations related to Chinese culture e.g. counting systems, the Mandarin language, philosophers that have influenced Chinese thinking such as Confucius or Lao Tzu, Chinese calligraphy, art, dance, drama and culture etc.
Children are invited to dress up on Monday. Some possibilities for dress-ups include: an animal from the Chinese Zodiac (Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig). Chinese Martial Arts, the colour Red or Gold – red represents power, happiness, vitality (and scares away beasts); gold represents wealth and good fortune, a lion (lion dance), Chinese costume.
Our school participates in a China educational and cultural exchange whereby children in years 5 & 6 have the opportunity to travel to Hong Kong and Foshan in Mainland China. This is followed by a reciprocal visit for children from Hong Kong and Foshan. All children involved in the exchange undertake a collaborative inquiry project to deepen intercultural understanding. The findings from this inquiry are presented to all children in the school. Hence, an awareness of, and engagement with, Chinese cultural events forms part of our whole school program.