ELSA
ELSA stands for Emotional Literacy Support Assistant. At our school, we know that everyone, at times, will face difficulties or challenges that can make them feel vulnerable. We understand that any one of us may need additional emotional support. Emotional upset can impact negatively on a child’s ability to engage with their learning. Some children may experience trauma or loss that affects their interactions with friends and/or their learning/behaviour in class. In such cases our ELSA will support children through the difficult periods in their lives.
ELSA is an educational psychology led intervention designed to promote the emotional wellbeing of children and young people. In our school, Tracey Venables is our qualified ELSA. She does a fantastic job to support the emotional wellbeing of pupils and remove barriers to learning.
ELSA sessions are delivered in a sensitive, caring and fun way, helping children to find ways to cope with their challenges and build lifelong skills to enable them to succeed. Weekly sessions can be 1:1 or in small groups. Activities cover issues including:
- Social skills
- Friendships and relationships
- Anger management
- Loss and change
- Self organisation
ELSAs are not there to ‘fix’ a child’s problems, more to provide emotional support. Their aim is to establish a warm, respectful relationship with a pupil and provide a safe space where thoughts and feelings can be shared and explored and strategies and skills learnt and practised to manage their needs.