From June 13 to 17, as a way to relieve the pressure of exams and enjoy the final days of this academic year, YCIS Beijing celebrated its annual Spirit Week. Each day throughout the week focused on a different and fun theme based around school character traits and exemplified by the Primary School House symbols. The YCIS Beijing House system is designed to give students a sense of belonging and commitment. The Houses systems offers positive competition and a chance to embrace healthy sportsmanship. The highlight of the week was House Spirit Day, an action-packed event filled with exciting games and inter-house sporting competitions.

Red Phoenix

The week began by featuring the house icon the Red Phoenix. Students learned that despite being extremely powerful, the phoenix is also a benevolent mythical creature. To honor this kind yet strong house mascot, a Super Hero day was held. Each student dressed up in their favorite heroes from movies and literature and were able to show off their costumes during a Super Hero Parade and Costume Contest. Many adorably sweet students chose to dress up as their parents and teachers, believing them to be their true heroes.

Blue Mustang

Tuesday honoured the Blue House’s symbol: the Blue Mustang. A wild and free animal, the mustang epitomizes being active, healthy, and free. In tribute to the house animal, students were encouraged to bring their roller-skates, scooters, and skateboards to school to feel the wind blow through their hair as they enjoyed playing games and being active during their lunch periods.

Green Dragon

In China, dragons are symbols of strength, luck, and excellence. For our Primary students, the Green Dragon took on a double meaning, the first being its green colour. This colour represents environmentalism; on the day, each student was encouraged to create a piece of clothing or accessory using recycled materials. The second meaning was derived from the dragon itself. A common belief in Chinese culture is that dragons have control over water. To help relieve the stress and anxieties of the semester, students became their own dragons and took part in an all-inclusive water fight. Students were all smiles by the end of the activity, completely soaked and grinning from ear to ear.

Purple Monkey

The monkey is the universal symbol for happiness and fun and as such the students were encouraged to be as silly as possible. A silly dress day was held which had students arriving to school in mismatched clothing, inside out clothes, and all manner of creative expression. During the lunch period, YCIS Beijing hosted its very own student comedy club where each student was asked to prepare and share jokes. At the end of the period, each student was left giggling like a cheeky monkey.

Golden Tigers

Big and brave, Friday honored the tiger with Primary “Spirit Week Sports Day,” where all students competed for their House team. Gifted with a sunny and clear day, students participated in a wide range of activities, including pass the bucket and obstacle courses. Like a tiger, through perseverance and teamwork each student was able to represent their house admirably and showed great sportsmanship. Friday’s games culminated in the House awards, a running tally that tracks each house’s adherence to YCIS Beijing’s character traits, which has been going on throughout the year. And the winner? The Red Phoenix House! A huge congratulations to them on their hard work and dedication to promoting YCIS Beijing’s core values and beliefs throughout the whole year!

While one might see this week as simply a week where students play, we believe that with YCIS Beijing’s core philosophies and character education programme at its heart, it was in fact a week of celebration, congratulating each and every student not only for their commitment to their studies but also for the personal growth and transformation throughout the entire academic year.From everyone at YCIS Beijing, parents, teachers, staff and students, we wish you a safe holiday and look forward to seeing you again after the summer vacation!

To see more photos from spirit week, visit our Flickr page. Don't forget to learn the latest about what’s happening on and around our beautiful campus, please click here.