Junior School Donvale

Welcome to the Year of the Pig

Steve Wilson Head of Junior School Donvale

Vickie Pahos President of the Carey Donvale Parents Association

Striking, amazing, lavish, remarkable, impressive, brilliant, dazzling, spectacular: you could choose any one of these adjectives to describe Donvale’s incredibly successful ‘Lunar New Year Welcome Fair’. After a long summer break, the Donvale community began the new year with this fabulous celebration, hosted by our proactive Carey Donvale Parents Association (CDPA). This year’s fair perfectly coincided with Lunar New Year celebrations for the Year of the Pig, prompting a new theme for the annual Welcome Fair. Over 400 members of the Donvale school community came together in the spirit of festive celebration, bringing in a year of prosperity and good fortune. The scale of the event was certainly ambitious, and it had a simple but powerful agenda: to draw the Carey Donvale community into a celebration of the new year in anticipation of what is to unfold in 2019. The event tapped into many of our Positive Learner Attributes with ‘Connectedness’ at the heart of the festival and ‘Imagination’ the driving force for the hundreds who attended wondering what was in store. Our students were overwhelmed with ‘Curiosity’ when they were invited to meet the traditional Chinese lions, and marvelled at the spectacle of the performances many had never witnessed before. At Carey, we aim to show students that our learner attributes are applicable to every part of life, not only in the classroom. The magnificent twilight sunshine became the backdrop for a vibrant, culturally diverse event, providing myriad activities catering to all ages. The popular face painting stand which spanned the entire basketball court transformed excited children into fairies, butterflies and ferocious animals, while families played giant yard games

‘The Donvale Welcome Fair is always a wonderful way to start the year and get to know others within our community. This year’s fair was a truly spectacular event, and quite simply one of the most ambitious and successful ever staged at Carey Donvale.’

nearby. Down on The Flat, others dared to conquer the enormous rock climbing wall or test their AFL skills on the giant target cube. Adorable miniature ponies took children on magical rides through the gum trees along Mullum Mullum Creek trail, while the giant slide made tummies leap as children flew down into their parents’ arms. Kicking off the live entertainment, illusionist Alex the Unexplainable’s impressive show gave no secrets away, packing out the Hall with his memorising magic. This was followed by a colourful Tai Chi performance which displayed the graceful beauty of traditional Chinese movement, and the Adventure Playground become the stage for the smooth acoustic sounds Brothers in Alms which filled the campus, enriching the festive ambience of the night. For the finale, the majestic and wonderfully colourful Chinese lion dancers paraded with their booming and cathartic percussion. This drew an entourage of excited children, who were handed oranges (‘ong gam’ in Cantonese, meaning ‘giving gold’), which are a symbol of conferring prosperity and well wishes to the recipient. The Donvale Welcome Fair is always a wonderful way to start the year and get to know others within our community. This year’s fair was a truly spectacular event, and quite simply one of the most ambitious and successful ever staged at Carey Donvale. Our sincere thanks to the entire CDPA and a host of willing helpers. Special thanks to Vickie Pahos and Joanne Clark for their thorough planning and endless enthusiasm. Happy Year of the Pig!