On Thursday 7 February, a group of Royal High Bath students went to visit local primary school - Beacon Rise Primary School in Bristol - to tell them all about Chinese New Year.

They started by giving an assembly to Reception and KS1 – a scary prospect when they realised there were 270 eager faces watching them and taking in their every word! Sammy, Mayen and Emily did an excellent job of letting the pupils know all about the ways the New Year is celebrated in China and the reasons why things happen (did you know that the colour red is widely used because the monster, Nian, is scared of it?). There was even time for a quick question and answer session with the children.

After break the students split into three groups and each group ran a separate session with one class of Y2 students. Sammy, Mayen and Emily taught the class how to write ‘Luck’ in Chinese, Sennen and Isabella helped the children decorate their own dragon heads and Alice, Darcy, Tasha + Kaylie told the class traditional Chinese stories of Nian and the Zodiac. We then swapped around so each classes got to try all three activities.

Miss Cheers and Mrs Parr were extremely proud of all the girls involved, especially those who spoke in their second language in front of so many children.

Mayen says, the trip was successful. "We did a year assembly at the start, and answered some questions from the children . After that we went through different classrooms and teach them how to do Chinese writing. I felt the day went well and it was a good opportunity to lead such an event and I think it is important to share different cultures and traditions with younger students."