Sunnyside »

Sunnyside Elementary is a warm and welcoming community that opened it’s doors in 2013. We are a K-7 elementary school currently enrolling 678 students.  Many of our families reside in the neighbourhood, but many also come from all over the City of Surrey for our Montessori Program. Our population has risen rapidly over the last six years and will continue to grow based on projected demographic changes and development in our neighbourhood.

Sunnyside is a culturally rich and vibrant multicultural community and we have so many wonderful things to celebrate! Our students, staff and parents are truly engaged in the learning that takes place at Sunnyside. We believe in and value working together as a community to support our learners. Our students are creative, musical, energetic, and empathetic. They take risks in their learning and work collaboratively to support each other. We have a rich fine arts program and our students are also very active in a variety of extra-curricular activities.

The staff at Sunnyside truly care about the academic and social-emotional growth of our students. We work together to learn and grow so that we may continually improve and enhance student learning. We are actively engaged in BC’s Redesigned Curriculum and are working on further developing our understanding of quality assessment practices. We celebrate our learning together and invite our parent community to come visit often and learn with our students. Through activities such as Noisy Reading, Digital Portfolios, student led conferences, and various community events, our parents get the opportunity to see learning in action. 

The PAC and parents at Sunnyside work tirelessly to help build a positive school community through fundraising and social activities. We have a very active and dedicated PAC Executive that meets on a regular basis to support the wonderful initiatives at our school. Also, many parents volunteer on a very regular basis both in classrooms and on field trips. We truly appreciate the time, effort, and support our parents share with us at Sunnyside!

At this current time, our observations and collaborative conversations are helping us build a deeper understanding of our school community. In order to truly support our learners, we feel it is essential to know and define our WHY, HOW, & WHAT. Simon Sinek asks everyone, “Do you know your WHY…the purpose, cause, or belief that inspires you to do what you do?”

In answering this question,  we immediately think of the most important people in our school, the learners. We believe that all children have the right to learn and grow in a safe, caring, and engaging community. We believe it is our responsibility as educators to provide an environment that instils a love of learning in children. We also believe that every child, if given supports and opportunity can achieve success. We believe that teamwork and collaboration between administration, parents, teachers, and all stakeholders in the lives of our students is essential. 

As a whole staff, we began this school year digging deeper into our WHY.  We spent quality time defining “what do we believe about learning” and “what do we believe about kids?” Learning happens at different rates and needs to accessible to all students. We believe learning should be ongoing, flexible, engaging, scaffolded, meaningful, purposeful and put into context. We believe kids thrive when their needs are met. They need to feel loved, cared for, respected and supported. Kids are naturally curious but all learn in different ways.

`

We have also worked hard this year to define what makes for a healthy school and what values are important at Sunnyside. We truly believe it takes a village and we need to have strong home, school, and community connections. We value a sense of belonging at Sunnyside, where everyone feels safe, connected and accepted. Having clear and consistent expectations for how we work, learn, and play at Sunnyside is truly important. We value an inclusive learning environment where there is personal ownership and empathy towards others. 

These beliefs guide our current work and will continue to motivate our work as we move forward in our learning journey at Sunnyside.

“When you know your WHY, your WHAT has more impact because you’re walking in or towards your purpose.”  -Michael Jr.-

We have had many opportunities to discuss our learners this year. We developed a deeper understanding of our students during professional development days, staff meetings, Lunch and Learn sessions, and Professional Learning Conversations (one-on-one conversations between teachers and admin). Through these collaborative efforts, the following areas of focus for student learning emerged this year:

• Social & Personal Responsibility (Self Regulation, positive peer relationships, kindness, making “good choices,” building community…)

• Quality Assessment Practices (using reading and writing assessments to determine the starting points for our learners; focusing on formative assessment practices to support students in their learning journey)

To support student learning in Social & Personal Responsibility, there is a focus throughout the school on Mindfulness, Growth Mindset, Zones of Regulation, class meetings, and Collaborative Problem-Solving (using the work of Ross Greene). As a staff we will continue to use, strengthen, and further develop our own understanding of  self regulation. Our ultimate goal is to have students identify and utilize various strategies that allow them to be calm and ready for learning.  

To support Quality Assessment Practices, our classroom teachers are working collaboratively with our Learner Support Team to gather reading and writing assessments to determine the starting points for our learners. We will use this quantitative information to determine our support plan for students. Knowing where students currently are in their academic abilities will help us focus our efforts. Staff and students will then use formative assessment practices and structures to move learning forward. 

Moving forward in our learning journey, we will continue to work with the end in mind. We will strive to:

• share clear learning intentions with students (I can statements… along with collaboratively developed success criteria and feedback)
• find out where our students currently are in their learning
• give feedback that moves learning forward
• have students help each other in their learning
• activate students as owners of their learning

We will continue to work together as a staff to develop our learning during formal and informal collaboration times, staff meetings, Lunch and Learn sessions, and district provided professional development 

We will engage in ongoing discussions (primary/intermediate meetings, staff meetings, grade group meetings, admin/teacher Professional Learning Conversations, etc.). All these opportunities will allow us to focus on our learning goals and initiatives for our learners. This is the essence of our HOW.