When school returned for 2008, Lindfield East Public School welcomed students and staff with a riot of colour, dance and fireworks. There were lion and fan dances and Chinese string instrumentalists, Asian food stalls and calligraphy demonstrations.

The lunar New Year concert attended by 1,200 parents, students and teachers is just one initiative to involve parents of Asian background in the school.

About 30 per cent of the 705 students at Lindfield East Public, on Sydney’s north shore, are of Asian background and of that figure, 22 per cent are of Chinese heritage.

The principal, Andrew Stevenson, said the school was keen to reach out to parents who had not traditionally been involved in the school.

After a number of meetings and a morning tea with parents and staff, new parents joined the P&C executive and were soon enthusiastically commenting on the canteen menu and helping organise the New Year celebration.

“The lunar New Year provided the theme for this year’s event,” Mr Stevenson said. “Lion dancing by our students and the Yau Kung Mun troupe saw the school officially blessed – this act wishes Lindfield East Public School a happy, healthy and prosperous 2008.”

The teachers were introduced and cheered by the audience, while Year 2 students performed a New Year song in English and Mandarin taught by the community language teacher Yi Qing Zeng.

Korean and Japanese parents performed the traditional fan and Odori dances and the Year 5 and 6 girls presented the umbrella dance in Chinese costume.

The evening went off with a bang with a fireworks display and the release of helium balloons to welcome the new Student Representative Council.

Mr Stevenson said 25 students were trained in lion dance techniques and took part in this year’s Chinese New Year parade in Sydney.

“We danced down George Street to Darling Harbour, it was a real buzz,” he said.

All students in Kindergarten to Year 2 study a Chinese cultural program, including learning the language, and the 140 background Mandarin speakers have additional classes with Ms Zeng.

And to round out the Asian studies, Lindfield East has a sister-school relationship with a school in Nepal. The SRC raises money for resource books and students study Nepalese culture in HSIE.