Pupils bring in Year of the Goat

Pupils from the reception class at St John’s Primary Academy, Clifton, held a special assembly that saw them perform a dragon dance as they brought in the Year of the Goat.

Parents, friends and relatives watched on as they read the story of how the animals got to name each other and displayed their pagoda models.

Afterwards parents joined them in the classroom for coffee and special biscuits that the children had made, with Mandarin initials iced on them.

Head teacher Helen Lever said: “As you can imagine, the children loved it. So did the rest of school, especially the older children in school who had a little brother or sister performing in the reception class.”

The Goat comes eighth in the Chinese zodiac.

According to Chinese astrology, each year (starting from Chinese New Year) is associated with an animal sign. The signs occur in a 12-year cycle.

People born in a Year of the Goat are generally believed to be gentle, mild-mannered, shy, stable, sympathetic, amicable, and brimming with a strong sense of kind-heartedness and justice.