THE youngsters of West Wickham's Hawes Down Infant School brandished horse masks and performed a dragon dance as they celebrated Chinese new year.

All 221 pupils at the school, aged between four and seven years old, took part in the festivities last Friday (January 31).

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Head teacher Janet Sturley said: "The children loved it - they are a creative lot.

"Our slogan is 'excellence and enjoyment' so we make sure children learn creatively, and Chinese new year was a great opportunity to do that.

"They made horse masks - this year is the year of the horse - and little kites and wrote happy new year in Chinese.

"We just had a really good Ofsted report, a strong good across the board, so it was a nice way to celebrate."