Sunnyside Elementary

OUR CONTEXT

Sunnyside Elementary School is one of more than one hundred elementary schools in South Surrey, British Columbia. Everyone who works, learns, and resides in the Sunnyside area, shares the privilege of the majestic mountain views the North Shore has to offer and the scenic seaside bluffs along the Pacific Ocean to the South.   We have a dedicated and caring staff who are committed to improving student learning  by promoting the well-being of the self, the family, the community, and the land.  We believe social and emotional learning provides a foundation for safe and positive learning, and ultimately, enhances aptitude for academic success for each individual learner.  Our students have a range of talents, perspectives, cultural backgrounds, ways of knowing, and diverse skills and abilities.  Every individual student is invited to our supportive and welcoming school environment where perspectives and identities are valued to ensure they have a feeling of belonging to better contribute to their learning and to that of their peers.  

I am grateful for the view I see in my classroom because the mountains are pretty.

Spencer ~ Grade 1 Student

I am grateful for the "sun" that students bring to Sunnyside Elementary.
Elise ~ Grade 3 Student

Outdoor learning on our campus and in neighbouring parks, provides opportunities for learners to engage in meaningful experiences to develop their sense fo place, both with their families and alongside their classmates and teachers.  There are currently 603 students from culturally diverse backgrounds who attend our school.  Approximately 22% of our students are English Language Learners, with 38% of families speaking languages other than English, at home. Sunnyside Elementary is the only school in the Surrey School District that showed an increase in enrolment in September 2020, amid the global COVID-19 global pandemic.  The extended school closures and restricted access to community services during the pandemic, has led to profound and abrupt changes in our schools leading to inequity and has ultimately, imperilled our students' well-being and social emotional development.  The staff at Sunnyside recognize the need to create and maintain a supportive school and classroom environment where students feel safe, cared for, and connected to their self, to others, and to their place.  

I am grateful for my teachers for making learning fun.  

Brooklyn ~ Grade 4 Student 


Classroom teachers (K-7) along with our SEL Lead Teacher, explicitly taught SEL lessons, integrating literacy and oral language skills.  Working collaboratively and creatively with students, they co-created the lyrics to make meaningful connections to their learning, reinforcing what we value as a school community.  

Check out our beautiful voices and messages from which we can all learn!

I am thankful for the teachers in the school who teach us how to learn more songs to help me at school.

Owen ~ Grade 2


OUR LEARNERS

The learners at Sunnyside Elementary School were not in session between March 2020 and June 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.  As with many young learners across the world, there are many social and emotional learning concerns due to restrictions and limited interactions with students' school communities.  In order to create and maintain a powerful learning environment, we wondered what was happening for our learners.  

We wondered:

  • Do our learners have opportunities to share their voice?
  • Are learners able to describe their connection to themselves, to one another, and to their community?
  • Do learners receive explicit SEL instruction and are they provided with descriptive feedback that helps them learn to self-regulate and understand themselves as engaged learners?

We questioned:

  • To what extent will the implementation of research-based SEL practices enhance student knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to manage emotions?
  • What can we do to strengthen our students' decision-making abilities in and beyond the classroom?
  • How do we gather student perspectives and experiences in authentic and meaningful ways as leaders, problem solvers, and decision-makers?

We look for ways to build and celebrate the voice of students in our school community.   This is another example of a co-created representation of our learning. Students who are socially aware and responsible contribute to the well-being of their social environment. They support the development of welcoming and inclusive communities, where people feel safe and have a sense of belonging.  Our students in grades 1-5 shared their learning through song.  



We acted:

  • engaged students in community circles, created SEL weekly goals, uses balls of positivity, facilitated morning meetings for learners, implemented Second Step, taught the Zones of Regulation, used MindUP strategies, provided CASEL resources to teachers, followed the CASEL walk-about checklist, invited staff to join professional conversations, hosted monthly professional book club meetings, welcomed staff to join our SEL Committee, provided EASE (Everyday Anxiety Strategies for Educators) training for all staff, created a Sunnyside Green Club, entered FreshGrade SEL self-assessment activities, created a collaborative school-wide musical with a focus on SEL, hosted the Entrepreneur and LID Learning Fairs, weekly outdoor learning opportunities, First Peoples' in Residence Week to build an understanding and appreciation for the Indigenous lands in which we work and play, Zumba sessions for students and staff

Parents, click on the link below to learn about ways you can teach your child life skills at home that will benefit you in the future:

EASE at Home for Parents 

EASE K-7 classroom lessons have been adapted for use by parents and caregivers to support children’s mental health across home, school and community settings. EASE at Home K-7 activities have been designed for all children to learn these skills at home.  When children practise EASE strategies at home, they are more likely to use them.

EASE helps educators teach students strategies to address the thoughts, feelings and behaviours associated with anxiety, while also supporting social and emotional learning and the mental health literacy of educators.  It provided our teachers with access to a collection of school-based, evidence-informed, curriculum-aligned, anxiety management and resilience-building classroom resources and online professional development courses

We learned:

  • opportunities for student participation in SEL lessons, clubs, events, and productions as well as First Peoples' in Residence Week, helped foster feelings of inclusivity and belonging
  • throughout the year, students gained more confidence in sharing their ideas and opinions
  • there is an increased feeling that students believe there is someone who is willing to listen when they share their voice

We gathered students in two different cohorts in the fall of 2021 and the spring of 2022.  We met with students in grades 4 and 7 and collected their opinions and ideas about their voices and feelings at school.  We had some exciting results!

There are clubs where kids can contribute to the community.  We made an anti-bullying musical that encourages students to "fill each others' buckets up" so they feel good. 

Grade 7 Student 

I like how safe it feels here.  There are a lot of people who can help.
Grade 7 Student

  • created opportunities to offer our generosity to our extended communities thereby creating a sense of pride
  • our Kindergarten classes raised just over $500 by selling their artisan cards
  • engaged student leader voices in grades 4-7 to facilitate daily PA announcements with features such as, Indigenous land acknowledgements, sharing the learning of students, and engagement with our community such as Food drives, fundraising for Peace Arch hospital,  clothing drives, toy drives, led by senior and junior leadership teams


Writing and producing music collaboratively with students helps solidify the SEL messages we have been teaching.  We explicitly taught SEL lessons about inclusion and positive sense of place.  Students shared their ideas and we created this song!  Our SEL Lead Teacher, Mr. Robinson, led the way!  The students were taught how to integrate technology and art into this presentation to express their learning.  Come and sing along with us!

We noticed:

  • an improved ability for students to identify the size of their problem, an increased sense of empathy toward others, more responsible decision making, and more of a willingness for students to share their ideas and tell their stories, school-wide initiatives have taken place, intentional SEL instruction has yielded positive comments from students, staff, and parents with regard to self-regulation, assertiveness, stamina, and academic engagement in literacy (June 2022)
  • the addition of our Sunnyside SOGI Club has brought a renewed sense of awareness and belonging at our school
  • the addition of our school environmental club the "Green Team" for grades 2 and 3 built an awareness of how choices have an impact on our surrounding community (Community park clean up)

My school is open to many different opinions.  I like all of the adults that are around to help you and all the kids that include you.

Grade 7 Student

OUR FOCUS

Sunnyside Elementary's focus is to build our school community so that all students feel positive about themselves as learners.  We want students to know they matter to us, to our community, and ultimately, to themselves.  By engaging in student-focused conversations, we plan to learn more about our individual students and explore ways to help them share their stories and voices with the broader school community.  Our shared vision aligns with CASEL's SEL Competencies of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship management and responsible decision making. 

We will focus on teaching students:

  • how to develop skills for demonstrating consideration for themselves and others by contributing to the well-being of their school and community by sharing their voice
  • how we work through difficult moments and situations using restorative practice
  • how to engage in meaningful service work at the school level while feeling empowered to share their ideas
  • how to establish and maintain positive relationships by respecting others, practicing social skills and making responsible choices
  • how to recognize their emotions and develop strategies to change their emotional state 
  • how to demonstrate the depth of their SEL learning in different ways through the use of technology, literacy, and art 

We will continue to provide intentional social emotional learning instruction that is culturally responsive by giving students equitable opportunities to share their voice, build their agency, and promote their well-being using SurreySchools priority practice of SEL. What can we do that will have the biggest impact for our learners?  Are there other schools with a similar focus that we can learn from?  

Student leadership is great because it helps the school.  We get to share our ideas for ways to help other students.

Nina  ~ Grade 5 Student



I feel proud to be a student leader because I get to help other people in the school.  I like lunch monitoring because I love kids.  

Allie ~ Grade 5 Student

Leadership is a great experience because we find ways to help others solve problems and help them with their feelings. 

Sophia ~ Grade 5 Student

I wanted to join the Green Club so I could meet new friends and learn more about how to treat our Earth with kindness.  I met a new friend and we play on the weekends.  My mom helped me plant some food seeds in our garden box!  

Grade 4 Student

Friendship means to me that you and your friends are supportive of each other when they get something wrong.  It also means to me that you be kind and treat each other equally with respect .

Ryder ~ Grade 3 Student 

                               


OUR NEXT STEPS

While we have recognized and celebrated the evidence of social emotional learning that has taken place over the past two years, we are committed to continue honouring and valuing this as a student learning plan at Sunnyside.  We hope to be able to benefit from having an SEL Lead Teacher role at our school next year and to continue to provide opportunities for ongoing professional growth and development, which ultimately translates to improved student learning.  

Our SEL committee will focus on ways to increase student voice while fostering a deeper sense of love for self, others, and place.  We intend to improve this learning more formally by supporting the continuation of explicit SEL instruction and gathering direct and indirect evidence of learning resulting from a collaborative effort to teach students how to recognize their full academic and social potential.  We plan to listen to students' stories and experiences to help them to feel cared for and connected, thereby increasing their sense of belonging.   Our new 10-classroom school addition will provide a new sense of pride and ownership as students branch out and make new social connections.  We are looking forward to connecting with our PAC parents to provide whole-school community building activities that were so successful prior to the global pandemic.  We are excited to welcome parents and develop our relationships to further support our learners and build positive connections between home and school.

Next year it will be fun to have more new friends to play with.  Our new school will be so fun! We will include everyone.  It's pretty welcoming here so we know inclusion is good.  

Grade 7 Students

If we have new friends, we can include them in our games and show them around the school.  We can see if they want to join the leadership club!  Being a leader helps spread kindness.  

Reina and Berna ~ Grade 5 Students

Starting places for the 2022/2023 School Year:

  • the SEL committee will meet and review the starting points as noted in the June SEL Committee Meeting
  • we will analyze the evidence of learning from the students in the cohorts that were surveyed in the spring of 2022 to determine a focus for moving forward
  • at our summer sharing sessions, we will visit the BC curriculum and share classroom routines that provide opportunities for mindfulness, self-regulation, social-emotional learning, and opportunities to share student voice
  • select a target cohort to explore the link between social and emotional learning readiness with academic growth and development in literacy in the fall of 2022 and the spring of 2023
  • the leadership team and green team will continue to guide our community service work both in and out of the school 
  • explore the further integration of First Peoples' Principles of Learning across the curriculum

Our Inquiry Work:

  • What are some strengths that our learners have shown with respect to social and emotional learning?
  • How can we build on these strengths?
  • What is going to make the biggest impact on our learners and how can we tell?

Using the  CASEL Guide to Schoolwide Social and Emotional Learning will help us help our students become more engaged academically, build stronger relationships, and lead more happy and fulfilling lives.  We believe SEL is relevant for all students at Sunnyside and we plan to understand and promote our students identities, strengths, and cultures to foster an inclusive environment.  We will work collaboratively to create and maintain welcoming learning environments in the classrooms and in the wider school community.   We will promote consistent routines and the explicit teaching of evidence-based SEL strategies.  We will continue to engage students in the sharing of their voices to help students further strengthen their skills and strategies for healthy living that promote equity and student identity.  

When I started here as a new person this year, I was scared to meet new people and I didn't know what to say.  Now I feel more confident to talk to other people.  When I see new people, I have learned that I should welcome them too.  Because of the "Bucket Song", I can say things that make me feel kind.  I can smile and that helps too.  Mr. Robinson helped us write the song and I can sing it to remember what to do.

Grade 3 Student


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Surrey Schools

Formed in 1906, the Surrey School District currently has the largest student enrolment in British Columbia and is one of the few growing districts in the province. It is governed by a publicly elected board of seven trustees.

The district serves the cities of Surrey and White Rock and the rural area of Barnston Island.

Surrey Schools
14033 - 92 Avenue Surrey,
British Columbia V3V 0B7
604-596-7733