Session 6: Celebrating Chinese Dragons

The girls joined Miss McWatt in the Art Department this morning in order to learn about the traditions and history of the Chinese New Year celebrations. They learnt that the Chinese New Year is symbolic of letting go of the past and welcoming new beginnings. Each year of the Chinese New Year is named after an animal. Chinese people believe that the Chinese zodiac animal energises, characterises and flavours the year in which it was featured. The girls were very excited to look at the zodiac chart and establish what animal they were and the characteristics associated with it.

The girls then prepared to make their own Chinese New Year dragon puppet through the manipulation of different materials. The dragon is present in many Chinese cultural celebrations as the Chinese people often think of themselves as descendants of the mythical creature. The girls chose their colours and materials to make their own dragon. Tremendous fun and creativity was had and some outstanding dragons were created!

Thank you, Miss McWatt, for a wonderful and creative session this morning.

Our next SHINE session is on Saturday 9th February.

Test Post

Test post.   words and pictures

Session 5: Let's Party

In this morning's session, the girls joined Mr Wilson in the Religious Studies Department to learn about different religious festivals and celebrations. They began their morning by creating a spider diagram of as many different events that people celebrate e.g. birthdays. The girls then created a calendar of the celebrations that take place in their home between January and December. After careful consideration, the girls chose their favourite celebration and explained their reason why - some lovely accounts were given.

The focus for the main part of the session was to learn about the Hindu festival, Diwali, which is the Festival of Lights. The girls watched a video of how people prepare for and celebrate this festival and then Mr Wilson showed the girls artefacts from the Hindu faith. Part of the preparations for Diwali is when the play 'Ramyana' is read. This play is taken from the Holy Book. Each girl had a part and they narrated the play and learnt about Hanuman and Sita.

After break, the girls chose either the mask of Hanuman or Sita to colour and decorate - some wonderful and colourful designs were produced. To conclude the session this morning, Mr Wilson also explained about the Jewish festival of Passover and showed the girls an exemplar of the Torah.

Thank you Mr Wilson for such a fun and engaging session.

Our next SHINE session is on Saturday 26th January.