Year 3 & 4 pupils share history & culture at Chinese New Year

Year 3 and 4 pupils have taken part in a variety of workshops and activities in preparation for Chinese New Year.

As a Boarding School with an international community, the Chinese festivity marks an important occasion in our School calendar. As we have welcomed overseas students from China for over 30 years and, due to a long history with the Chinese community in Portsmouth, we have long celebrated Chinese New Year, and this year is no exception.

Pupils spent the morning creating Chinese Zodiac headbands; designing paperchain Chinese Dragon puppets, and making ‘Lai see’ – red envelopes which contain money and are given to loved ones to wish them a safe and peaceful year. They also learned that these special envelopes are also known as ‘yasui qian’ meaning ‘supressing ghost money’.

St. John’s College