ELSA

Welcome

Welcome to our school ELSA page.

Emotional wellbeing is a priority at our school. 

One of the ways in which we support pupils is by having a member of our staff trained as an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA).

Our ELSA is Mrs Polley. 

On this page we will share some information about the Emotional Literacy Support on offer at our school. 

We have also included some helpful resources and links on how you can help your child; for example in areas such as self esteem, sleep and daily wellbeing.  

What is ELSA?

There will always be children and young people in schools facing life challenges that detract from their ability to engage with learning.  Some will require greater support to increase their emotional literacy than others.  ELSA is an initiative developed and supported by educational psychologists.  It recognises that children learn better and are happier in school if their emotional needs are also addressed.

The majority of ELSA work is delivered on an individual basis, but sometimes small group work is more appropriate, especially in the areas of social and friendship skills.  Sessions are fun, we use a range of activities such as: games, role-play, books and stories, cards or therapeutic activities such as mindfulness or arts and craft.

In ELSA sessions, we aim to provide support for a wide range of emotional needs.  These can include:

• Loss and bereavement
• Emotional Literacy
• Self-esteem
• Social Skills
• Friendship issues
• Relationships
• Managing strong feelings
• Anxiety and worries
• Bullying
• Conflict
• Emotional Regulation
• Growth Mindset
• Social and therapeutic stories
• Problem solving

How does ELSA work?

In our school, children are usually referred for ELSA support by their class teacher and/or Senior Leaders. Sessions are normally one session a week over a 6-8 week period.  With the programme aims in mind, we then plan support sessions to facilitate the pupil in developing new skills and coping strategies that allow them to manage social and emotional demands more effectively.

In addition to in school referrals, if you as a parent or carer have any concerns relating to your child's social and/or emotional wellbeing please discuss these with their class teacher, in the first instance, who will then liaise with our senior leaders and our ELSA to determine if an ELSA course might be beneficial and when this would be able to start.

Supporting - not fixing 

Remember, ELSAs are not there to fix children's problems. What we can do is provide emotional support.

We aim to establish a warm, respectful relationship with a pupil and to provide a reflective space where they are able to share honestly their thoughts and feelings.

It needs to be appreciated that change cannot necessarily be achieved rapidly and is dependent upon the context and complexity of the presenting issues. For children with complex or long-term needs it is unrealistic to expect ELSA intervention to resolve all their difficulties, however support will be designed to target specific aspects of a child's need. Training and development of ELSAs is an ongoing process and wisdom is required to recognise when issues are beyond the level of expertise that could reasonably be expected of an ELSA. In these cases our school, in liaison with our SENDCo, will support parents and carers with other referrals e.g. specialist counselling or play therapy.

• 5-5-tips-for-families-to-help-children-get-better-sleep download_for_offline
  download_for_offline5-5-tips-for-families-to-help-children-get-better-sleep
• 5-tips-for-families-with-children-who-self-harm- download_for_offline
  download_for_offline5-tips-for-families-with-children-who-self-harm-
• a-5-tips-for-families-anxiety-children-002 download_for_offline
  download_for_offlinea-5-tips-for-families-anxiety-children-002
• a-5-tips-for-families-autism-children download_for_offline
  download_for_offlinea-5-tips-for-families-autism-children
• a-behind-challenging-behaviour-primary download_for_offline
  download_for_offlinea-behind-challenging-behaviour-primary
• Anna Freud Centre - Talking Mental Health with Primary Aged Children download_for_offline
  download_for_offlineAnna Freud Centre - Talking Mental Health with Primary Aged Children
• Anna Freud Centre 7 ways to support children who are worried download_for_offline
  download_for_offlineAnna Freud Centre 7 ways to support children who are worried
• a-positive-self-talk-rainbow-primary download_for_offline
  download_for_offlinea-positive-self-talk-rainbow-primary
• ELSA Leaflet-self-esteem download_for_offline
  download_for_offlineELSA Leaflet-self-esteem
• ELSA Leaflet-self-esteem download_for_offline
  download_for_offlineELSA Leaflet-self-esteem
• ELSA Leaflet-wellbeing download_for_offline
  download_for_offlineELSA Leaflet-wellbeing

Other Useful Links

https://www.annafreud.org/resources/children-and-young-peoples-wellbeing/self-care/

https://www.annafreud.org/resources/under-fives-wellbeing/common-difficulties/

https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/children-families-and-learning/childrens-health/school-nursing-service

https://www.camhs-resources.co.uk/downloads