Tuesday 5th February represented Chinese New Year and this time around it was the Year of the Pig.
Celebrated on the first new moon that appears between the end of January and culmination of February, various festivities including dancing, fireworks and meals are utilised to celebrate the beginning of the new year on the traditional Chinese calendar.
The Garth School celebrated the incoming Year of the Pig with a range of activities throughout the day as part of their Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) provision.
Pupils enjoyed learning about this celebration and engaged in stimulating and varied educational experiences and activities centred on this theme. Highlights included Chinese cooking; tasting and investigating Chinese foods; tactile and sensory exploration of cultural artefacts and clothing; and more formal teaching and learning focusing on how and why this celebration features so heavily within the Chinese culture.
Staff at The Garth School provide all pupils with six SMSC Days throughout every academic year, each one focusing on a different over-arching theme. The SMSC Day in November 2018 centred on Diwali and the next SMSC Day will be taking place on 5th March, with the planned theme being ‘Diversity within the Local Community’.
Claire Moore, Head of School, explained: “Pupils of all ages enjoy these themed days in school and it provides them with an opportunity to experience and learn about spiritual festivals belonging to a variety of religions and diverse cultures within our local community and around the world. It also provides the opportunity for appropriate interaction and engagement with peers and adults in school and further afield.”
Click on the link to view their special day of celebration
