At the end of September, the Britannica community came together to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the most cherished traditional festivals in Chinese culture.
Across the school, students explored the festival through a range of hands-on activities. Our Year 6 and Year 7 students made and enjoyed mooncakes, discovering the traditions behind this special festival through a shared cultural experience. For students from different backgrounds, making, sharing, and tasting mooncakes offered a natural way to experience Chinese culture together.
Yubo L., in Year 10, also helped our Year 1 and Year 2 students to learn about the festival through sharing stories of its traditional legends. It was a wonderful example of learning and connection across year groups which also gave Yubo the opportunity to develop his own leadership and communication skills.
Celebrations continued with the Mid-Autumn Poetry Competition, held in collaboration with the English Department. Students were invited to write poems inspired by the moon in Mandarin, English, or both. One moon, two languages, and many ways of seeing, feeling, and imagining.
From all the entries, 30 Mandarin poems and 30 English poems were shortlisted, with three outstanding winners chosen from different year groups, recognising the creativity and imagination of our young poets. The selected Mandarin poems were written by Winnie L. (Year 6), Sean H. (Year 7), and Cici S. (Year 9), while the selected English poems were written by Sean H. (Year 7), Ellie C. (Year 7), and Keira L. (Year 9).
Through poetry, students explored ideas of reunion, belonging, reflection, and connection, while discovering how the same moon can inspire different perspectives across languages and cultures.
At Britannica, cultural integration is part of everyday school life. Through food, stories, language, creativity, and shared experiences, our students are not simply learning about different cultures — they are learning to understand, appreciate, and connect with the diverse world around them.
Chris Liu
Deputy Head of Mandarin
