Chinese New Year at Berkhamsted

With Chinese New Year fast approaching, we take a look at how it is being celebrated here at Berkhamsted.

Tuesday 17^th November saw Isaac, Meghan and Silin in Year 12 deliver an engaging assembly to their Sixth Form peers on the origins and history of Chinese New Year. The assembly also took in some of the superstitions associated with the event as well as a look at traditional Chinese New Year foods.

Isaac explained what spending Chinese New Year at school involves: “as boarders in Incents, we are fortunate to have a Mahjong set to play with during Chinese New Year. Coming from Hong Kong, we have a tradition of playing Mahjong during Chinese New Year, as a way of socialising with family and friends. On top of that, a Chinese New Year dinner has been organised this year on Friday night, where boarders from Incents and St Johns will eat Chinese takeaway in Nash Harris.

Akin to Christmas, Chinese New Year is a festival where people bond. The most enjoyable part of the Chinese New Year is the thrills of spending time with friends in the boarding house.”

Year 13 students studying Mandarin spent classroom time analysing Apple’s Chinese New Year advert for 2023. In response to the advert, Year 13 have discussed political change, Westernisation, the preservation of tradition, and China’s luxury goods market.

Meanwhile, as part of Year 2 Chinese Day, Mrs Tan brought eleven Year 8 pupils, who are currently studying Mandarin, from the Boys and Girls schools to spend a morning up at the Pre-Prep, helping Year 2 pupils with the exciting range of activities on offer as part of the day. The Senior pupils helped give Year 2 a lesson in Chinese calligraphy and taught them a Chinese New Year song, as well as helping them create Chinese River dances and build dragons from cardboard boxes, egg boxes, wrapping paper and other materials that would have been otherwise destined for the recycling bin!

This cross-campus event was an excellent opportunity for the Year 8 pupils involved to put what they had learnt in lessons into practice, as well as giving them the chance to be great role models to their younger peers. In turn, Year 2 were able to learn from older pupils and get a taste of the kind of things they might learn in the future. The visit also saw the Year 8s join in with Pre-Prep breaktime and lunchtime; it was clear that Year 2 had lots of fun playing with their new friends. Thank you to Mrs Tan and the Year 2 teachers for organising.

gōng xǐ fā cái