2021 was a busy year for the Columba College Chinese language students, who participated in many national competitions, cultural events and activities.

In Term One, we celebrated the Chinese New Year. The date of Chinese New Year is based on the Chinese lunar calendar and 2021 begins on February 12. 2021 is the year of the Ox.

To experience how Chinese people celebrate the New Year, we engaged in a variety of activities to make wishes for a lucky and prosperous year ahead. These activities included: Chinese Paper Cutting, making Red Envelopes, Ox-face paper craft, tasting Chinese New Year Snacks and learning how to play Majiang, a popular strategy game.

Year 0-2 students learned about popular places in China, Chinese food and the Chinese Zodiac signs. Year 5 and 6 students made paper lanterns for the Lantern Festival on 26th Feb, which concluded the Chinese New Year celebration.

In March, Columba ​​participated in the National Paint-A-Panda Competition, which is organised by the Confucius Institute at the University of Canterbury. We represented well with 64 students, out of a total of 230, coming from Columba. Anise Maclean, of Year 11, won the $50.00 prize in the Most Likes category. Nanni Ge, of Year 9, won $20.00 in the Best Comment category. And Peter Choi, of Year 6, won The Confucius Institute Prize of $50.00.

On May 27, Columba College hosted the 2021 Lower South Island Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition (汉语桥 hàn yǔ qiáo) for Foreign Secondary School Students. It was a very successful night with some great results. Eight Columba students participated in the competition: Charli Sinclair and Darcy Baldwin from Year 9, Leila Bevin, Emily Sharpe, Rebekah Sime and Kayla Smith from Year 10. Anise Maclean from Year 11 and Maya Bromby from Year 12.

To compete, the students had to present both a speech in Chinese as well as a cultural performance. In addition to this, senior students were required to answer a question in Chinese. It was great to see variety within the cultural performances. Rebekah performed a Tai Chi Fan Dance, Kayla sang a Chinese song, Emily recited a popular Chinese poem and Charli, Darcy, Anise and Maya presented calligraphy.

All of our students performed very well, with the following results:

Junior Best Talent Performance - Rebekah Sime

Senior Best Talent Performance - Maya Bromby

Junior Speech, 1st Place - Rebekah Sime

Junior Speech, 2nd Place - Kayla Smith and Emily Sharpe

Junior Speech, 3rd Place - Darcy Baldwin

Junior Distinguished Award - Charli Sinclair and Leila Bevin

Senior Speech, 1st Place - Maya Bromby

Senior Speech, 2nd Place - Anise Maclean

Best Coach - Ms Ding and Miss Yang

In June, six of these students (Darcy, Emily, Rebekah, Kayla, Anise and Maya) went on to represent Otago in the 2021 NZ South Island Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition, held in Christchurch. Well done to Darcy, Emily and Rebekah who won the Distinguished Award, to Kayla for placing 3rd in the Junior Speech category and to Anise and Maya who also placed 3rd, but in the Senior Speech category. 

In August, Kayla, Anise and Maya competed in the NZ National Final Chinese Speech Competition. All three put in a huge amount of effort to draft and practise new speeches and prepare their cultural performances. Congratulations to all three for winning the Outstanding Performance award.

In May, Year 7 and 8 classes had a cooking workshop with Ms Ding, to learn how to make dumplings and spring rolls. First, students researched recipes to choose their favourite. Each class successfully made delicious Pork Dumplings and Chicken Spring Rolls.

In June, Year 2-10 students had a 端午节 duānwǔ jié workshop to celebrate the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, where they made paper Dragon Boats and paper Sticky Rice Dumplings.

In July, Year 9 and 10 classes had a cooking workshop to learn how to make wontons húntun 馄饨. Students researched the different wonton recipes and chose their favourite pork and vegetarian options. First, the students made the pork and vegetarian fillings, before learning the basic technique of wrapping a wonton. Lastly, the wontons were deep fried in vegetable oil. Everyone enjoyed their wontons - especially eating them!

Year 11 and 12 students had a Tangyuan cooking workshop, where they learned how to use glutinous rice powder to make Tangyuan skins. The skins were filled with either a peanut or sesame filling and then cooked in boiling water.

At the Columba College Open Day in August, students worked on Freehand Brush Style Chinese painting with Ms Ding and Miss Yang. Some also added calligraphy characters to their paintings. Visitors were invited to try the Chinese painting and calligraphy and many tried the brush pen with Chinese ink. The visitors were very happy to take home their efforts, as souvenirs.

In September, following the Olympic Games, Year 0-1 students learned about Chinese sports. The students enjoyed playing Pingpang qiu (table tennis) as well as 踢毽子tī jiànzi (shuttlecock kicking). Shuttlecock kicking is a traditional Chinese sport, which originates from the ancient game cuju of the Han dynasty, 2000 years ago. Not only does shuttlecock kicking strengthen the legs, but it also improves concentration. Our young students had lots of fun playing this game!

Year 0-2 students explored the colour culture of China and the Peking Opera. Students wore some of the traditional Peking Opera masks on their faces, as well as decorating some of their own.

To conclude Term 3, all students celebrated the Middle Autumn Festival (Moon Festival) and Chinese Language Week. There was much to learn and many activities to enjoy. Year 0-1 and 2 learned about the legends of the Moon Festival, as well as the current traditions. They designed their own mooncakes and lanterns. Year 3-8 took part in the Middle Autumn Festival Quiz and played paper mooncake games with chopsticks. The international students performed a Han Dance for the Chinese Garden’s Middle Autumn Festival.

As part of Chinese Language Week, a video was produced by 15 schools around the country, to promote Chinese Learning and Chinese Language week. Well done to Tayla Finlay, from Year 11, who represented Columba College in this video. Her contribution, in 4th position, can be viewed at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojao6jDM9Ds

Also during Chinese Language Week, form classes played a Chinese-themed Kahoot!, complete with fortune cookies for prizes. Students also got to learn some Chinese dances and martial arts. Thank you to our special guests, Ms Susan Xu and her son, Mr Leven Wu, for coming in to teach us. Susan taught students the Chopsticks and Tai Chi Fan dances, while Leven taught students Long Fist martial art.

The Otago Chinese Prize Giving was meant to be held in October 2021, but unfortunately, due to COVID, it did not go ahead. We would like to say a big thank you to the following students who had spent many hours preparing a performance for the Prize Giving: Rebekah Sime, Amber Zhang, Junxiao Chen, Wenxi Zeng, Shuyuan Zhao, Huijie Jia, Weiyi Dong and Weiran Dong.

Columba College represented very well this year in Chinese competitions, receiving a multitude of prizes and awards.

Confucius Classroom Excellent Learners awarded to:

Thomas McIlroy, Betty Wilson, Samuel Murphy, Ngara Stent, Lara Lowe, Isabella van Aart, Lila Taylor, Jessie Roff, Lydia Hortop-Blair, Hebe Song, Delilah Brown, Matilda Sutton, Charli Sinclair, Rebekah Sime, Tayla Finlay and Maya Bromby.

Excellent HSK Student awarded to:

Noa Kuroki

NZ ​​​​Hard Pen Calligraphy Non-Native Intermediate & Secondary Category:

1st place - Frankie McAuliffe

2nd place - Rin Ueda and Noa Kuroki

3rd place - Zoe Mackenzie, Scarlett Wilson, Zuzanna Kochan, Emily Roy, Kaja Maciaczyk  and Koh Miyamichi

NZ Brush Pen Calligraphy Non-Native Intermediate & Secondary Category:

2nd place - Rin Ueda

NZ Hard Pen Calligraphy Native Intermediate & Secondary Category:

2nd place - Mabel Lee and Ruoshui Zhang

3rd place - Hebe Song and Charlene Chan

NZ Brush Pen Calligraphy Native Secondary Category:

2nd place - Ruoshui Zhang

NZ Hard Pen Calligraphy Non-Native Primary Category:

3rd place - Méabh Russell, Frances Jones and Bilal Ahmad.

NZ Brush Pen Calligraphy Non-Native Primary Category: 

2nd place - Ruby Tilyard

3rd place - Charlotte Bloxham

12th NZ Chinese Calligraphy Competition Intermediate & Secondary Category - Merit awarded to:

Yumeng Li, Luciana Brown, Jemima Hortop-Blair, Selina Zeng, Hebe Song, Scarlett Wilson, Emily Fryer, Emillie Matthews, Nanni Ge, Charli Sinclair, Tessa Smith, Kayla Smith, Emily Sharpe, Huijie Jia, Mabel Lee and Anise Maclean.

12th NZ Chinese Calligraphy Competition Primary Category - Merit awarded to:

Hugh Walker, Matilda Brown, Emily North, Xuanming Tang, Devon Skevington, Bilal Ahmad and Finlay Auchinvole.

Columba College was also awarded The Best School in the 12th NZ Chinese Calligraphy Competition, 2021. Ms Ding and Miss Yang were awarded The Best Coach.