Sunnyside Elementary 23-24
OUR CONTEXT
At Sunnyside Elementary, we SHINE! 
Everyone who works and learns at our school, is 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.
Outdoor learning on our campus and in neighbouring parks, provides opportunities for learners to engage in meaningful experiences to develop their sense of place, both with their families and alongside their classmates and teachers. We value First Peoples’ Principles of Learning.
The staff at Sunnyside recognize the need to create and maintain a supportive school and classroom environment where students feel Safe and Happy. It is a school where everyone is Included and Nurtured and where we teach students to develop a sense of Empathy.
OUR LEARNERS
We share the authentic evidence of learning from classroom-based assessment. Our cohorts used the rubrics from the BC Performance Standards to assess their student’s proficiency is sharing their ideas and knowledge with an intended audience. Further evidence was collected in digital portfolios on Spaces, student self-reflections, teacher conversations, and other writing projects.
“I feel confident sharing my ideas and how I am feeling about my social emotional learning at school. My teachers are my audience and I know they are reading and listening. When I hear my ideas shared at the announcements, I can tell they think my ideas are good and that my opinion matters.” Grade 7 Student
It is demonstrated through the data collection of our cohorts that the focus on writing strategies that begin with oral language sharing, brainstorming, explicit teacher modelling, and many opportunities to practice. There is evidence that this has made a difference in our student learning. The purpose was for students to reflect on how their learning in the social emotional domain impacted their feeling that their voice was valued at school.
Language from the Grade 7 BC Curriculum:
- Exchange ideas and viewpoints to build shared understanding and extend thinking
- Use writing and design processes to plan, develop, and create engaging and meaningful literary and informational texts for a variety of purposes and audiences
Fall 2023 – BC Performance Standards Personal Impromptu Writing
Describe how your social and emotional learning has impacted your relationships, your sense of belonging and how do you know your ideas and voice matter at school?
Spring 2024 – BC Performance Standards Personal Impromptu Writing
Describe how your social and emotional learning has impacted your relationships, your sense of belonging and how do you know your ideas and voice matter at school? (*8% increase in proficiency)
“I think the SHINE word helps all the students know that we have a right to be safe and happy at school. We have morning meetings and my teacher listens to us talk about how we are feeling and I can tell she is listening. She makes us know that when we share our writing with everybody it’s because she thinks it’s important that everybody’s voice is included.” Grade 7 Student
Upon teacher’s reflections, they plan to continue to look for ways to build and celebrate the writing voice of students in our school community. This is another example of a co-created representation of our learning that is ongoing. Students who are socially and emotionally aware and responsible contribute to the well-being of themselves, of others, and of the land around them. They support the development of a welcoming school community, where everyone feels Safe, Happy and Inclusive Nurtured and Empathetic.
What did we do?
- created school-wide SEL weekly goals
- engaged students in evidence-informed community circles
- facilitated morning meetings for learners
- implemented Second Step, Zones of Regulation, MindUp, CASEL and EASE strategies
- started a JEDI Club (Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion)
- organized a Rainbow Club
- weekly outdoor learning opportunities to develop an appreciation for the Indigenous lands in which we work and play
OUR FOCUS
Sunnyside Elementary's focus is to engage in student-focused conversations and providing opportunities for students to share their voice through their writing for the purpose of promoting social emotional learning.
From the BC Curriculum, our cohort was building a shared understanding and extending their thinking by writing to communicate their ideas and viewpoints.
We have focused on sharing our student voices by including their viewpoints in our daily announcements. We have monthly SELebrations where we have a school-wide book of the month to inspire our writers’ voices and stories 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. Our students were given multiple opportunities to share their thinking both orally and in writing.
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 literacy and impromptu writing
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?
OUR NEXT STEPS
While we have recognized and celebrated the evidence of social emotional learning and literacy instruction 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.
Starting places for the 2024/2025 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 2024 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
- explore the further integration of First Peoples' Principles of Learning across the curriculum
Our next steps include an enhanced focus on improvement with regard to written expression of students. This will remain an area requiring attention and focus. As we approach our second year with a literacy goal, we intend to expand our cohort to branch out to include other grade levels that support this work. Our teachers will continue to work collaboratively to assess and implement SEL research-based strategies and suggested writing structures including descriptive feedback, to improve student writing as we continue to explore ways to value student voice at Sunnyside.
At Sunnyside Elementary, we SHINE!
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.
