The whole school gathered in the Quad for the annual firework display, which was truly spectacular, including an incredible digital presentation across the school façade.

The girls also took part in some traditional activities throughout the week and decorated both the central fireplace and the library with beautiful calligraphy, paper-cutting and block printing they had made.

It was really lovely for students from several different countries to share how they celebrate this wonderful festival.

Lunar New Year in Singapore - Iras (Yr 13)

In Singapore, Lunar New Year is celebrated primarily with our families, and begins with the annual reunion dinner on the eve of the new year.

Festivities last for 15 days, and often consist of visiting the houses of relatives, eating special food, and receiving and giving red envelopes with money inside.

It's a fantastic festival, and really important for us!

Lunar New Year – Korean-style! - Soyoung (Yr 11)

In South Korea, Lunar New Year is the most magnificent holiday of all.

First, we start with a tradition called “sebae”, which is a ritual where the younger children wear traditional clothing and bow down to their elders, such as their parents, grandparents, and older relatives.

After sebae, we usually get “Lunar New Year money” from the elders and wish each other a good year without any troubles or bad luck. For food, the most commonly eaten food throughout Korea on this holiday is definitely “Tteokguk”, which is rice cake soup, with thinly sliced egg and dried seaweed on top. We say that one bowl of this soup will make you one year older as well, therefore many people eat it on New Year's Day too.

Many households also play folk games such as “yutnori” or “gonggi” – when I was younger, I remember playing those folk games with my relatives and enjoying this amazing holiday. Lunar New Year is truly the best time of the year for South Koreans.

Celebrating Chinese New Year Away from Hong Kong - Sigrid (Yr 12)

Celebrations in the UK are massively different to those in Hong Kong. There, we would spend each day visiting each member of our extended family: usually partying until late at night.

Due to the obvious lack of family living in the UK, my mom and I have decided to celebrate the Lunar New Year with neighbours and friends instead!

Before all the celebrations start, my mom and I make sure to clean our flat thoroughly, as it symbolises sweeping away the bad luck from the year before.

We usually make traditional Chinese carrot cake and distribute it around the neighbourhood – just the thought of the cakes is enough to make me salivate...

At school, my friends and I hang red banners and signs with messages of good luck and fortune around the boarding house. It’s nice to see my friends of different cultures participating in the celebrations with me. My favourite would have to be folding origami decorations, and my friends love it too. Although all of us aren’t quite as adept as we think we are (my rabbit looked like a crab), it's still great fun gathering and attempting the more complex patterns as part of the Lunar New Year celebrations.

On the Wednesday, Sarah, and Audrey (Yr 9) visited St Mark’s Primary School to deliver an assembly on the Lunar New Year. They put together an excellent presentation on what Lunar New Year means to them individually, as well as a brief history on the various traditions associated with the celebration. The children were fully engrossed and were particularly fascinated to learn what animal represents their year of birth.

They shared their passion and knowledge with enthusiasm, and they even had time to answer some of the thoughtful and tricky questions from all year levels!

This was such a terrific week of celebrations, bringing the whole school together.