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Join UsNews / Nunn Road / 2024 / January 2024
Dear parents,
Happy New Year!
After a long break, we welcome the New Year. It is good to see the children returning with happy faces and lively smiles.
Do you notice the blue flowers blossoming when you come through the gate? Starting this year, the English Class will be known as the Blue Flower Class.
As usual, we teachers came back to Nania a few days before school reopen to clean the space, wash and sunbathe all the toys, dye the cloths and repair the broken toys. We have made everything ready to welcome the children back to Nania.
This year, we welcome a new friend who is 5 years old to the Blue Flower Class. We now have 22 children in the class. We hear a lot of laughter from the children.
As we start this new year, I seek your cooperation to be punctual when bringing your child to Nania. Arriving to class by 9a.m. gives the children enough time to do artistic work and play. When children come late, they either miss out on the artistic work or they do not have enough time for creative play.
We gather every morning to greet each other and pray for absentees. If your child is absent because of illness, kindly inform the class teacher before 8.30a.m. so that we can wish him or her a speedy recovery. For new parents, please note that the teachers do not attend to their phones after 8.30am. as they will be in the classroom engaging with the children. So, please contact the office (04-2265480) any time after 8.30am.
We have an early Chinese New Year Festival this year (2nd February). Although preparations require a bit of extra effort, it is worth it. Everyone is helping each other to make the celebration as grand as possible. Currently, all children are practicing for the festival with singing, dancing, and chanting "Ton ton ton chan, Ton ton ton chan."
Together, we wish for happiness for everyone throughout the entire year of 2024. If your child has Chinese traditional clothes, please encourage him/her to wear them on the day of the festival.
Our Chinese New Year holiday starts from 9th February until 18th February. Nania will reopen on 19th February.
January, February, and March will pass quickly. We encourage everyone to cherish every day and create memorable moments. Although concerns about COVID-19 and infectious diseases persist, let's do what we can and overcome these challenges together. Thank you for your continued support as always.
All of us at Nania would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’ and a Happy Chinese New Year.
Chinese New Year Festival Program 2nd February 2024 (Fri)
9.00 – 9.10am Water and Toilet Break
9.15– 9.50am Sunflower Class Presentation
9.50 – 9.55am Water and Toilet Break
9.55– 10.30am Blue Flower Class Presentation
10.30 – 11am Snack Time (Ribbon Kuih made by the children and other snacks)
11 – 11.10am Water and Toilet Break
11.10 – 11.40am Puppet Show and Staff Presentation (Lion Dance)
11.40am Goodbye Song
11.45am Ang Pow Distribution
12pm End of Celebration and Departure (parents and the children will leave together)
Notes regarding the Chinese New Year Festival
· Please come at 9.00 am and wait at the car park. In case you have any symptoms of a cold/flu, please do a self-test before you come.
· We encourage children to come in traditional Chinese New Year clothes as it helps them to be in a festive mood.
· It is not necessary to bring a school bag and water bottle as we will be providing water for the children.
· Please park your car in the parking lot of the Che Hoon Khor Moral Uplifting Society, across Nania.
· It is sometimes difficult for young children to join in the festival presentation because of the crowd. We encourage parents to sing along with their younger children to encourage their participation.
• The main gate will be opened after the festival celebration. Please be careful of moving traffic.
January 2024 Activities
23rd (Tue) Thaipusam Outing
25th (Thu) Thaipusam Holiday
26th (Fri) Penang Japanese School Form 2 Students visit
31th (Wed) CNY Ribbon Kuih Making
February 2024 Activities
2nd (Fri) Chinese New Year Festival
6th (Tue) Bean Throwing or Setsubun
8th (Thu) Tien You’s 4th Birthday Celebration
9th – 16th Chinese
New Year Holiday
29th (Thu) Graduation
· On the day of Setsubun, every child will bring home the masks and boxes they have prepared. The boxes will be taken home without the soybeans in them. This is because in condominiums and some places, there may be restrictions on throwing soybeans by the children. If there are grass in their boxes, it is because the children have picked up the beans after scattering them in the play area. We collect them after scattering them every year as the beans that fall on the soil or grass feel like "treasures" to the children. The traditional chant for Setsubun is "oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi" meaning "out with the demons, in with good fortune". Additionally, we call out "Sickness Sadness Outside! Happiness Inside!".
· The "oni" in the traditional Japanese event of Setsubun (bean-throwing) and the "Nian" mentioned in the Chinese New Year story are quite similar. Both symbolize illnesses and misfortune. By driving them away, we welcome happiness as we wait for the warmth of spring. As soybean sprouts emerge from the sown beans, celebrating new life, children experience plant life cycle and rhythm of the year.
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Setsubun/Japanese Bean Throwing Day
This festival takes place on the day before Risshun, the first day of spring in the Lunar calendar. Soybeans are scattered in and around the house to drive out sickness and misfortune which are represented by demons. (This custom is called mamemaki.)
For this celebration, the children make origami boxes for the storing of soybeans and also a mask of the demon or the god of happiness. On that day, the children wear the masks as they scatter the soybeans. We will celebrate the festival in the garden.
Later, the children will collect the scattered soybeans and plant them in the vegetable bed. When the plants bear fruits, we will harvest and boil the ‘Edaname’ for the children to eat during lunch time.
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