Pupils at Overleigh St Mary’s CE Primary School celebrate Chinese New Year

Feb 10 2011 by Jo Henwood, Chester Chronicle

CHILDREN at Overleigh Primary School in Chester have been celebrating Chinese New Year.

The Handbridge school has been working in partnership with a Chinese primary school attached to Xi’an teacher training college.

Headteacher Elaine Devine has visited the school and Overleigh pupils have been communicating with the Chinese students as pen pals.

Children from form 5M have also been working with Queen’s School teacher Zhiujun Sun as part of her outreach work.

The youngsters learnt about traditional Chinese fan dancing, basic Mandarin and information about the country and its traditions.

Teacher Fiona MacSween said: “This week she brought in a traditional dragon and we had an amazing time listening to the story of Chinese New Year and Guo Nian, before performing music and dance.”

The children finished off by sharing lucky candy, a Chinese tradition for New Year.

Miss MacSween added: “It’s been fascinating to learn about a culture so different from our own. The pupils have become more globally aware of differences and similarities between their own lives and the lives of children on the other side of the world.”