Welcome!

Hello and welcome to our school ELSA page! We are delighted to be able to share information with you about Emotional Literacy Support. This page will include resources, ideas and helpful advice on how to support children with their social and emotional well-being.

What is ELSA?

ELSA intervention is widely recognised and implemented across schools in Britain. It is an initiative that has been developed and designed by Educational Psychologists to support the emotional needs of pupils within schools. This is achieved by specifically training Teaching Assistants to deliver individualised support programmes that meet the needs of the children in their care. An ELSA in a school is an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant. Here at Lunt’s Heath we are lucky enough to have two ELSA’s, Miss Langton and Mrs Rome who have been trained by Educational Psychologists to plan and deliver programmes of support to children who are experiencing short or long term additional emotional needs.

There will always be children and young people in schools facing life challenges that will understandably make their ability to engage with learning more difficult. Emotional Literacy Support 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 however, small group work can sometimes be more appropriate and beneficial, especially when focussing on social and friendship skills. We are also aim to offer support for other areas of emotional needs such as; recognising emotions, self-esteem, anger management and loss and bereavement.

ELSA sessions take place in our very own ‘ELSA room’. The ELSA room aims to provide children with a calm and safe space were they feel supported and nurtured. During our ELSA sessions we use a range of activities such as games, role-play with puppets or therapeutic activities such as mindfulness arts and crafts. The activities used by ELSA’s are supported by sufficient evidence and research.

Children are usually referred for ELSA support by their Class Teacher, Senior Leaders or SENCo. The ELSA will review the referral forms to identify and prioritise which children will require the 6-8 week programme. An ELSA session will be carried out weekly with those children and sessions will be planned and tailored to meet the individual needs of the child to help them manage their social and emotional well-being more effectively.

Supporting – Not Fixing!

Please remember, ELSA’s are not there to fix children’s problems however what we can do is provide the best emotional support that we can. Learning to manage social and emotional needs can’t always be achieved rapidly and it depends on the individual circumstances of the child. We aim to nurture pupils in a calm and safe space and establish a respectful relationship that enables the children to feel like they are able to share their honest thoughts and feelings.

We believe it is important for ALL children to have access to Emotional Literacy support and resources so we aim to update this page regularly.  We hope you will find this page helpful and beneficial!

Miss Langton and Mrs Rome