Wellington is ready to ring in the Year of the Tiger!

 

Helena Hicks

Director of Chinese Studies

 

The Year of the Tiger is upon us, and we in the Chinese Department cannot wait to celebrate! Festival activities are an important part of our Chinese curriculum for a host of reasons. There is, of course, the academic component. At Wellington, Chinese language study is compulsory from Nursery to year 9. Even beyond that, the vast majority of our pupils choose to continue their Chinese studies in IGCSE and IB. Through our Chinese New Year activities, our pupils have a unique opportunity to apply what they have learned outside the classroom.

But true fluency and literacy in Chinese go far deeper that just being able to speak, listen, read and write. The Chinese language is steeped in history. Even the most commonly used character or phrase can sometimes be traced back to centuries — or even millennia — ago. Therefore, true Chinese proficiency requires a certain level of cultural literacy as well. Immersion in these age-old traditions and customs gives our pupils a deeper, richer understanding of China's language and culture. In fact, our cultural activities have become such an important fixture in our Chinese programme that we created a new leadership position to oversee it all late last year. I would therefore like to congratulate Juta Xu on being named our Head of Chinese Culture. Ms Xu will be taking the lead on developing all our Chinese cultural activities throughout the year.

Most importantly, we celebrate these festivals because they are fun! They lift our spirits and bring out Wellington community together to share and celebrate. With that in mind, we will be ringing in the Year of the Tiger with an exciting programme of events.

In the coming days, the main campus lobby will take on a festive look as we hang red lanterns and colourful tiger motifs everywhere. Additionally, our class and CCA lessons will take on a Spring Festival-themed focus.

Next week, pupils from Nursery to year 5, in cooperation with Friends of Wellington, will be putting their Spring Festival-themed artworks up for auction for charity. Last year, our pupils' works raised over 30,000 RMB for the charity Bright and Beautiful. This year, we hope to surpass that figure as we raise funds for Stepping Stones, a charity devoted to improving education for children in underserved areas in China. We have some generous and prolific contributors this year too. Pupil Daniel (Y5) has donated 10 original works of art. A Wellington parent, Mr Hua, is also contributing an artwork. Watch this space next week to learn more about our art auction and how you can place a bid on the lot of your choice.  

Year of the Tiger greetings from our pupils

On 20 January, our youngest pupils at the EYC will get to participate in their own mini Temple Fair featuring activities such as fan design, face painting, calligraphy and Chinese knots. They will also be treated to a spectacular bian lian — or mask-changing — performance that is famous in Sichuan opera.

The festivities will then continue at our main campus on 27 January, when our pupils in years 1–3 will take to the stage with a cultural showcase featuring plenty of song and dance. Later that day, our pupils in years 4–13 will participate in Wellington's annual Temple Fair in the Dome. There will be fan dance performances, kung fu demonstrations and lion dances as well as a variety of traditional Chinese games and handicrafts.

We look forward to ushering in the Year of the Tiger with you all!