Nǐ hǎo!  Wǒ hén hăo!

This summer, some of our current Year 6 pupils spent an amazing week in Surrey on a Chinese immersion trip.  They stayed at Frensham Heights school and spent the mornings learning the language and the afternoon participating in cultural activities.  Parents and friends were invited down on the final day to watch a performance showcasing what went on over the week.

“We learnt Kung Fu and Tai Chi.  The instructor showed us how some moves in Tai Chi can be used as self defence.”  Joseph Jackson

“We did 3 hours of language learning a day.  It was intense but amazing as we went from not knowing any words in Mandarin to being able to have conversations with our teachers and each other.”  Lottie Glover-Stewart

“We had a go on lots of different traditional musical instruments.  I especially liked the Chinese guitar.  We also learnt a folk song which we sang on the final performance.”  Lewis Harmer

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“David, one of the language teachers, is amazing at calligraphy.  He taught us some characters and we had a go at painting pandas and bamboo.  I was really happy with my painting.”  Isobel Potts

“The Chinese love dance and music.  We saw fan dancing, ribbon dancing and lion dancing and tried them all out.  Some of the moves were quite complicated to master.”  Luke Holden

“I loved the lion dance because of the fantastic colours and loud drums.  The professionals were really impressive and some of us got to have a go inside the costume.”  Alice Hudson

“One evening, we made Chinese dumplings.  They were delicious and I want to make them at home for a family tea one night.”  Lola Chiddy

“In the Chinese opera, the actors wear masks and each colour represents something different.  We painted our own masks.  The purple on my mask stands for bravery and being a hero.”  Eleanor Johnson

“We did a lot of creative activities and I really enjoyed the screen printing.  I chose to do a dragon as that is definitely a symbol which represents China.”  Olivia Dixon

“We created terracotta warriors, though not on the same scale as the Emperor’s.  Some were very realistic and some ended up looking a bit like snowmen.”  Finlay Davidson

It was certainly a jam-packed, fun-filled week and parents were wowed by the final show.   Everyone involved had an amazing experience and the memories will last way beyond the seven days it took to make them.  Zàijiàn!

To see the full gallery of photos and some videos from the trip, please search for Chantry Middle School Chinese Immersion Trip on YouTube.