Surrey Schools supports student needs through summer programs

The West Coast Kids Cancer Foundation continued its partnership with the district, offering a summer camp for elementary children navigating childhood cancer and blood disorders. (Photo by WCK Foundation)

While July and August bring much needed time off for many students, for families with greater student needs, the district recognizes the importance of providing additional support during the summer months through numerous engaging programs.

This year, the district ran multiple summer initiatives to support students with a wide range of diverse needs, from inclusive education needs to camps for students managing diseases and disorders.

The district provided a number of programs for students with such needs as low- and high-incidence disabilities, including programming for children with autism at Edgewood Elementary and BASES (Building Academic, Social and Employment Skills) programs out of William F. Davidson Elementary and Frank Hurt, L.A. Matheson and Kwantlen Park secondary schools. These initiatives provide social and emotional learning opportunities to students in an inclusive setting while simultaneously preparing them for the next school year.

“It’s kind of like transitions for BASES students,” said Daniel To, District Principal with Education Services. “There were some new students coming to their school and they actually took them into the BASES program and gave them an extra eight days to welcome them to the school and get used to it.

“It was a win-win for the teacher and the school as well as the families and the students.”

The district hires inclusive education specialists to run summer programs for students with special needs, including four counsellors, one district behavioural specialist, two learning support teachers and one English language learner/integration support teacher, with IESW support in every school. In addition to the targeted literacy and numeracy support in the classroom, students have additional supports available to them to assist in their learning.

Low-incidence and high-incidence refer to two categories of disabilities experienced by students in educational settings: low-incidence includes such conditions as sensory impairments, autism spectrum disorders and significant intellectual disabilities that require greater support, while high-incidence students can mostly function in the classroom with some support for mild learning and intellectual disabilities and attention deficit disorders.

Photo by WCK Foundation

For the sixth year, the district also supported elementary students with cancer through its ongoing partnership with the West Coast Kids (WCK) Cancer Foundation, offering a safe summer camp experience for youth navigating childhood cancer and blood disorders.

“These students have cancer or are in the beginning of remission, and because of that, they otherwise would not be able to attend summer camps,” said To. “Having that level of safety and having the nurses there really gives parents a sense of relief while giving kids who otherwise would not get a summer the chance to get a summer.”

Running out of Simon Cunningham Elementary, the partnership with WCK is also open to the siblings of students with cancer and includes summer learning opportunities that promote literacy. It also provides additional volunteer opportunities for Grade 11 and 12 students to gain valuable work experience.

Thank you to all of our specialists, educators, partners and volunteers for supporting student needs throughout the summer!