Extracurricular Programs

WABx Program

At WAB, we promote the education of the whole person, emphasizing intellectual, personal, emotional, and social growth through all domains of knowledge.  

Through our International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP), we believe that education must extend beyond the intellectual to include not only socially responsible attitudes but also thoughtful and appropriate action initiated by students. This self-initiated action can also involve service or lead to service. In helping to educate our students to take responsibility for shaping a better world, we recognize that skills in both leadership and teamwork are vital.

WAB’s challenging, holistic education fosters academic achievement, student-initiated action, service to others, and the development of leadership and team-building skills.

Action, service, and leadership development are significant parts of what we do at WAB.

  • Choir and Band (full-year commitment) 
  • Swim team (Tiger Sharks)
  • After-school Activity program (one eight-week block commitment per term)
  • Mother Tongue Language Classes
  • Social activities, including movie nights
  • Instrumental music lessons in strings, woodwind, brass (full-year commitment).

We send information home regularly outlining activities. Parents may also contact relevant school personnel for specific information.

After-School Activities Grades Senior Grade 1 to Grade 5

Our After-school Activities (ASA) program runs three days a week for three sessions per year and offers an opportunity for students from Senior Grade 1 to Grade 5 to select activities. Students have the opportunity to choose from more than 75 activities falling under these main categories: arts, information communication technology, environment, dance, sports, Chinese cultural activities, and languages.

A full ASA program will be electronically sent to all families in late August via SchoolsBuddy online system. Parents will need to sign up for this service to access the descriptions of all activities. Then for each session SchoolsBuddy will send a sign-up notice for each new session throughout the year. 

 

Lunchtime Sports Programs

Olympic Dream Series (ODS)

The Olympic Dream Series is a series of sporting events run at lunchtime throughout the year. It is designed to provide students from Grade 2–5 with the opportunity to be active and experience a variety of sports during their lunchtime. Depending on the grade level, students are able to participate in sports such as the biathlon, cross-country, badminton, table tennis, handball, swimming, track and field, and benchball. 

Lunchtime Sports Program/Interschool Sports

In addition to the Olympic Dream Series, WAB Elementary School students have the opportunity to participate in a lunchtime sports program that exposes students to the sports WAB participates in at a representative level. The International Schools Athletic Conference (ISAC) provides the Elementary students from Grades 2-5 with opportunities to represent WAB in soccer, cross-country, handball, table tennis, track and field, badminton, and benchball. Exposure to these sports and training for interschool events happens during the lunchtimes.

TigerSharks Swim Team

The WAB TigerSharks competitive swim team is open to those Elementary students who can complete 25 meters of at least three competitive strokes. The season will run in three parts from August to May. Tryouts will be held for each of the seasons. There will be competitions offered throughout the year that all participants are expected to attend. The majority of these will be in the Beijing area, though we will have a few outside of Beijing and China.

Band and String Ensembles

The Beginner Band and Beginner Strings are instrumental ensembles that give students the opportunity to play their instrument in a group setting, even if they have just begun learning. Students from Grade 3 to Grade 5 can join Beginner Band, and students from Grade 2 to Grade 5 can join Beginner Strings. Students within the ES Instrumental Music Program are encouraged to take part in the ensembles when they begin private lessons. Ensembles allow students to develop their skills further and to give their lessons greater purpose and direction. Great opportunities exist for strings, wind, and brass students! These ensembles are year-long commitments. The Beginner Band and Strings perform at assemblies as well as perform mid-year and end-of-year concerts for parents. If your child has been playing longer and is confident in playing and reading music, opportunities exist in the Development Band and Intermediate Strings. Placements in these ensembles are at the music director’s discretion.

ES Instrumental Music Program

WAB offers weekly instrumental instruction on a wide variety of instruments. We also offer lessons after school. There is an additional fee for the Instrumental Program. All lessons are individual, as we believe that students benefit most from a 1:1 teaching-and-learning situation. Once a student’s place in the program is confirmed, all fees must be paid in full prior to the first lesson. Lesson books are included.

This program requires a full-year commitment and includes a performance component through recitals or ensemble performances, such as the band or string concerts. Students are encouraged to make a commitment to perform in order to give their learning a purpose.

We suggest parents not wishing or unable to follow through on these commitments seek out private instruction as a more suitable alternative for the needs of their child and family. The ES Instrumental Coordinator can help with these arrangements.

All students will need to have (or purchase) their own instrument to practice during the week. The ES Instrumental Coordinator can assist in the selection and purchase of any instrument if you need help.

Cultural Celebrations

WAB is a diverse community with over 50 nationalities, with a wide range of languages and cultures represented within staff, students, and parents. 

WAB values this mosaic of diversity and believes that it is important to educate the community so that everyone understands the uniqueness of their own culture and their interconnectedness with the culture of others. While taking the opportunity to involve the WAB community in the significant celebrations and traditions of Chinese culture, WAB also aims to acknowledge cultural events that are significant in the lives of our community members in an inclusive way. In striving to be sensitive to the diversity of our community, WAB takes great care to plan school-wide events around celebrations and events that do not exclude or offend members of our community.

Community Celebrations

From time to time, grade level communities will hold celebrations to mark birthdays, a special event, farewell a student or celebrate the end of the semester. Subject to regulatory guidelines, parents are often invited to join in the celebrations. If your child is celebrating a birthday and you would like to arrange a small treat through our food service provider, please contact your child’s home base teacher for further information on how birthdays are celebrated in your child’s learning community.