St Bees School will be holding a Chinese New Year event and the local community is welcome to join them.

Chinese New Year takes place on Friday, January 20 and celebrates the Year of the Rabbit.

Chinese teacher, Ting Hou, is excited to share the celebration, which is the biggest and most important event in the Chinese calendar with the local community.

She said: “As China is the second biggest economy in the world, the passion for doing business with China is still growing.

“We are an international school, celebrating all cultures and global events – one of the largest being Chinese New Year.

“Here in England, Chinese culture forms part of our daily lives and that should be celebrated.

“We want to welcome everyone to St Bees School for the Chinese New Year celebrations for the upcoming Year of the Rabbit “

The independent secondary school has planned an exciting, interactive event as part of their Chinese New Year celebrations, running in parallel with their schools in China.

With a variety of activities to try their hands at including origami, calligraphy, a chopstick challenge and more.

There will also be authentic Chinese food to try which will be prepared by local Chinese restaurants Jasmine Palace and Oriental Garden.

Students have also created their own performance of the story of the Chinese zodiac and will be entertaining visitors with traditional songs.

Headmaster, Robin Silk, is looking forward to welcoming the community to the event.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to share a cultural event with our local community as well as educate them on the significance of Chinese New Year,” Mr Silk explained.

“Our students and staff have worked very hard to plan the activities and performances and we hope that people will come along and enjoy the festivities”.

The event will be open to the public from 3.30pm to 4.30pm on the January 20, and all are welcome come along.