Pupils bring in the Chinese New Year

Jan 20 2009 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

Pupils bring in the Chinese New Year

THE Chinese New Year is looming large and it was celebrated in style yesterday at Perth High School.

The Year of the Ox was ushered in by nearly 300 first year pupils.

Deputy head Fiona Keatings said: “There is real enthusiasm for our Chinese studies. This gave the youngsters an opportunity to experience cultural activities including lantern-making, using chopsticks and sampling calligraphy.

“We celebrated early because many of the people taking part will be enjoying the New Year holiday next week.

“They also got an introduction to basic Mandarin words like hello and thank you from in-house teacher Tim Huang.”

The Chinese arts and crafts were handled by Glasgow-based Rice Field and Lin Chau, a good friend to the High School, which was celebrating the Chinese milestone for a fourth year.

Second year kids are tackling six-week blocks of Mandarin while third years enjoy it as part of their citizenship programme.

Around 20 senior pupils will be heading for Beijing later in the year, following on from the success of the 2008 educational trip to Shanghai.