Pupils at two schools saw in the Chinese New Year last Thursday with a special themed day.

Pupils at Seend Primary School welcomed the Year of the Rabbit by learning about the customs surrounding the festival while those at St Mary’s Infants School in Marlborough put on Chinese-style entertainment for parents.

The pupils at Seend enjoyed a mixture of martial arts, Tai Chi, ribbon dancing, lion dancing, making lucky envelopes, creating lanterns and cooking.

At lunchtime the school served chicken chow mein or vegetable stir fry, followed by an exotic fruit salad.

“This is the third themed day we have had since September,” said headteacher Jackie Chalk.

“The first one focussed on health and the second on books.

“We have a maths games day planned in May and a European theme for a couple of days in June.

“It is always good to break away from the normal routine of the school day and it is days like these that the children, and the staff, will remember long into the future.”

At St Mary’s in Marlborough the 43 children in the reception class have been studying China, its culture and customs as part of their topic.

Deputy headteacher Gill Macdonald said all reception year pupils took part in the Chinese celebration last Thursday.

“We had dragon dances and ribbon dances, Tai Chi and Kung Fu.” said Mrs Macdonald.

The children paraded two traditional Chinese dragons around the stage, representing hot (red) and cold (blue).