For our Pink Shirt Day we, as a staff, decided to incorporate the Personal Awareness and Responsibility Competencies in a school wide activity and have our students reflect upon the little actions that they can do every day to help others feel included and safe in their school community.

As a school and as part of our school story, we have looked into the Core Competencies as a focus but also have shifted to think about what we can do as a staff to support our students in finding happiness in themselves and in their learning. We know that establishing an inclusive and caring community is an integral factor in helping our students feel happy in their experiences while here in the school. This activity gave us an opportunity to revisit our work and emphasis on the Core Competencies but also look into what our students are able to tell us about their ability to care about themselves and others.

Our staff explored a selection of stories for this activity, all of which held an important theme around inclusion and connection. Some of the stories available to teachers were:

• A Friend Like You by Frank Murphy
• All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman
• Intersection Allies by Carolyn Choi and Chelsea Johnson
• What Makes Us Unique by Dr. Jillian Roberts

After reading a story, our learners participated in class brainstorm and discussion around the importance of the actions, both big and small, that they can do everyday here at Jessie Wowk that help others feel safe and included. Each student then developed an action plan toward being inclusive, kind and caring and communicated their thoughts and ideas on a template through both words and images. The work of all of our students was placed on big pieces of chart paper and placed throughout our school. 

What Were Our Students Able to Tell Us?

Feedback from our staff around the activity suggested that our students were able to clearly identify actions that we can all do to help create an inclusive and caring school community. When looking at some of the samples of the students, there are a variety of suggestions and their ideas demonstrate an understanding around the importance of inclusion and kindness. Here are some of the actions statements communicated by the students:

I Can Be Inclusive By:

Accepting differences and saying nice things.

Being kind to everybody.

Letting everyone play.

Being mindful not to judge others.

Treating all races with respect.

Playing with others and it doesn't matter their race or religion.

I Can Be Kind to Others By:

Letting anyone who wants to play join our game.

Saying only nice words.

Sharing with others.

Encouraging others to do their best.

If you see someone by themselves on the playground ask them to play.

We as a staff know that our students have responded positively to the discussions and activities that have been happening in their classrooms around their social / emotional learning and the Personal and Social Core Competencies. We also know that their ideas that they have shared in their action plans for this activity align and reflect the behaviours that we are seeing both in the classrooms and on the playgrounds of their school community every day. We are very proud of their efforts and it is these actions by our students that make our school a wonderful place to learn and grow.