CHINA, Egypt... and Cropton Forest. These very different locations have provided the inspiration for three equally diverse cultural events at schools in the York area.

A day of Chinese-style fun was on the curriculum for children at Woodthorpe Primary School.

Pupils wore traditional or modern Chinese clothes, sampled Chinese cuisine, danced and made Chinese music and worked with Chinese students from York College in a bid to learn about the culture.

They were taught to write their names in Chinese letters and enjoyed the spectacle of a huge Chinese Dragon, designed by York artist Mike Larway.

Assistant head teacher Maggie Fayers said: "It was superb day. The children had a great time and a lot of effort went into it. The students from York College taught them a lot and I hope they also learned from our children. It was a great opportunity to liaise with the local community."

At Park Grove School, The Groves, a multi-media artist has created four dramatic figures in an area of the hall.

Head teacher Andrew Calverley said one figure was climbing up a wall, one was abseiling down, another was in a bivouac and the fourth was pointing across the hall.

He said sculptor Peter Douglas had been commissioned to create the figures, with pupils giving an input to the design, based upon their experiences while away last autumn on a residential course in Cropton Forest.

The artist was asked to do as much of the work as possible in front of children in the school, and talk to them about what he was doing. "I wanted them to realise that art wasn't just something children did in school and then forgot about," said Mr Calverley.

Meanwhile, children at Headlands Primary School, in Haxby, have been putting on a production of The Pyramid, a play about the lives of the working population of Ancient Egypt.

Head teacher Mike Schofield said the play looked at religious values and how they had influenced everyday life, and about the length of time it took to build a pyramid.

He said the production was a preview to next term, when pupils would be studying Egypt.

Updated: 11:23 Saturday, April 05, 2003