Getting Ratty at School
Pupils at The Queen’s School celebrated Chinese New Year this week in a variety of ways. Year 7 pupils, who are learning Mandarin as part of their curriculum, came to school dressed in Chinese clothes. On Thursday (the actual New Year) all pupils took part in a special assembly when they learned how to wish each other a Happy New Year in Mandarin and which animal represents the year of their birth. At lunch time there was the option to enjoy Chinese food instead of their usual lunch. This year is the Year of the Rat.
With Mandarin Chinese now firmly established in the curriculum at The Queen’s School, the girls needed no encouragement this week to join in celebrations for the Chinese New Year as China ushered in the Year of the Rat.
Year 7 pupils, who have been the first to have lessons in this exciting new subject, were keen to demonstrate their Chinese credentials by dressing in traditional Chinese style, including using chopsticks to pin up their hair.
They were also anxious to ensure that the whole school understood why they had swapped their familiar burgundy sweaters for colourful silks and straw coolie hats and so they presented an assembly where they explained the traditions that lie behind the annual celebrations. As part of the assembly, they talked about the twelve animals who each represent a year in turn and made sure that every girl knew which animal characterised the year of her birth. They rounded off the assembly by teaching the whole school to say ” Happy New Year” in Mandarin.
Not to be outdone, the school’s catering manageress produced a Chinese option at lunchtime so that the authentic tone could be maintained throughout the day.
Year 7 student Isobel Pugh said: “We had a wonderful time. I am really enjoying studying Mandarin and it was great fun explaining such important Chinese traditions to the rest of the school”
Fellow students Mihari De Soysa and Cordelia Philpotts agreed: “It’s a part of the globe that most people don’t know much about. Learning such an unusual language is fantastic and opens up a whole new world.”
Headmistress Catherine Buckley added: “I am amazed at the ease with which the girls have adapted to learning a non-European language, but language study is about more than just having a good accent and learning vocabulary. Understanding the culture which underpins any language is essential if the girls are really going to get to grips with it. I think we have all learned a great deal today- as well as having a very enjoyable time.”
Words: 345
For more information and photos (300dpi) visit: http://www.marketingprojects.co.uk/clientpo/3/news
Press Contact: Mrs Jane Taylor, The Queen’s School, City Walls Road, Chester, CH1 2NN Tel: 01244 312078 Fax: 01244 321507 Email: jtaylor@queens.cheshire.sch.uk
Notes:
The Queen’s School, Chester, Cheshire is one of the country’s leading independent schools offering the highest standard of education for girls from ages 4 – 18.
Since its foundation, The Queen’s School has always been a highly successful academic school. In the latest Government league tables published in January 2007, Queen’s was again ranked as the top school in Cheshire based on both GCSE and A/AS level results.
Academic success is only one aspect of life at Queen’s. The Queen’s School and its staff encourage all girls to participate in a wide range of extra-curricular activities; these include drama clubs, plays and musicals, cabaret evenings, choirs and orchestras, a variety of sports such as tennis, lacrosse, football, athletics and gymnastics as well as a science club, an equine club and the Friday club which involves girls helping in the community. There is also the chance to travel with the school on adventure holidays, foreign treks, scientific research expeditions, French and German exchanges and skiing trips.
Established by a group of prominent Chester citizens in 1878 as the Chester School for Girls, the school was renamed four years later by command of Queen Victoria and is proud to remain the only school in the country to have been granted the name The Queen’s School by royal decree. The school has a number of bursaries available to students. Mrs Catherine Buckley is the present headmistress of The Queen’s School. Mrs Felicity Taylor is head of the Lower School on Liverpool Road.
Past pupils include Beth Tweddle, Olympic Gymnast, Sarah Kelly founder of the UK’s Neuromuscular Centre for muscular dystrophy and Vivienne Faull, the first woman to become Dean of an English Cathedral.
More information available from www.queens.cheshire.sch.uk
Return to The Queen's School, Chester, Cheshire listings
> Return to Client Press Office
