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From the Master
Julian Jeffrey
It is once more my favourite time of year in Tianjin. The humidity and heavy rain of the summer is now merely a memory as the year rolls round into the cooling weeks of autumn. To me, this time of year is more than just the season which links the extremes of summer heat and winter cold. It offers its own beauty and tranquility, the calm between the ferocity of the coming season. In the article below the Mandarin department share with us what has been a truly wonderful Chinese Culture Week here at Wellington.
I hope that, for all our families, it proves a peaceful and restful holiday period.
From Mrs. Helen Shen, Nest Mandarin Coordinator
In 2020, the Mid-Autumn Festival will fall on 1st October. It is the same day as China National Day. This week, children and teachers at Wellington College Bilingual Tianjin celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional Chinese festival occurring when the moon is at its fullest and brightest point of the year. The Co-Teachers taught our children the stories behind the Festival in their Mandarin classes. In addition to reading stories, the children sang songs, tried various activities and had an assembly about Mid-Autumn Festival, they even had the chance to see and wear traditional costumes.
In a safe and enjoyable atmosphere, children of all ages explored activities and games planned by the teachers in this culture week of Mid-Autumn Festival.
Mrs Brenda
Pre-Nursery Teacher
In Pre-Nursery class, we read a story called, "The Moon Wants to Have a New Dress" and learnt that the moon shape changes over time and on Mid-Autumn Day we will have a full moon. Our Eaglets decorated their own mooncakes while listening to a wonderful song. The children were so excited to make their own mooncakes and they looked very beautiful.
Mrs Mendy and Mrs Phoebe
Nursery Teachers
In the Nursery class we prepared lovely and interesting rabbit and moon cake crafts for our children, it helped them practice their fine motor skills through finger movement such as cutting and pasting. At the same time, it also allowed the children to have a more specific experience of Chinese traditional culture and festivals which deepened their understanding of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Mrs Nini
Reception Teacher
In Reception class, children participated in mooncake-making cooking and Mid-Autumn Festival Stories (Chang’e Ben Yue). These activities helped the children to improve their fine manipulative skills, communication and language in both English and Chinese. We also encouraged important skills like turn-taking and problem-solving. Children have built up good relationships with their friends. We are so happy to celebrate the Festival together!
Mrs Kristen
Year 1 Teacher
On the Nest Mid-Autumn Assembly, our Year 1 children performed a Chinese song, two poems and an English story on the stage! After days of practice and today’s show, our children not only know why we celebrate Mid-autumn Festival but have also developed a spirit of teamwork and a sense of responsibility. Today's performance was very successful, children performed with passion and confidence. Children also came to school in their traditional Chinese costumes, they looked amazing and so beautiful! Performing Chinese poems was not only a great opportunity for our children to experience an appropriate sense of the ceremony, but also sparked curiosity to explore the beauty of Chinese literature.
A poet from the Song Dynasty, Huang Tingjian, said in his poem "Inspecting the Fields", "in the spring the farmers plant hundreds of hectares, in the autumn they harvested thousands of granaries in return." This reminds us of the origins of the Mid-Autumn Festival - a festival in which farmers pray for the moon, play and dance during the harvest festival. Wellington's Mid-Autumn Festival is not only about recalling traditional folk culture, but also about the search for beauty, happiness and acceptance, and this is exactly what this week's activities were all about.
