Head’s blog
This week at Grimsdell we have thrown ourselves into the celebration of Chinese New Year. We kicked off the festivities with a wonderful class assembly filled with vibrant shades of red and gold. The children told the story of the New Year animals and the presentation was interwoven with beautiful singing, dancing and music – culminating in the re-enactment of a parade with powerful drumming and the appearance of a Chinese dragon which made its way around the hall. I felt as though I had been transported to China and was part of a street festival! I was particularly impressed that the children had learned so much of the Chinese language as part of their assembly.
Today we have taken the celebrations a step further by immersing the children in a whole day of Chinese New Year workshops and festivities and I hope you will enjoy all the photos which bring the week’s experiences to life.
Over the course of this week I have heard children of all cultures and faiths talking about Chines New Year with excitement and knowledge. I have heard them reflect on the assembly they saw delivered by Reception at the start of the week and I have seen them live and breathe the festival as though it were part of their own tradition, alongside their many Chinese friends.
The diversity within Grimsdell and our commitment and joy in celebrating so many of the world’s festivals and traditions means that there are no barriers in our school. We are a global community and there is magic in celebrating difference but also magic in not seeing things as different, but being part of school where everyone’s culture actually becomes our culture. This is the festival of life!
