Welcome!

Welcome to our school’s Emotional Support page. 

We aim to post ideas and helpful advice on ways to help support your child with their emotional health.

Please also see our well-being page under the parents tab.

 

 

 

ELSA

What is an ELSA?

ELSAs are Emotional Literacy Support Assistants. They help children and young people to understand their emotions and feelings and to respect the feelings of those around them. Children learn lots of new skills at school, not just academic, but social and emotional skills. Whilst some children require extra support with their English and Maths, others may benefit from emotional support.

Our ELSA has been trained through educational psychologists in order to provide support for individuals and groups: -

• Anxiety
• Recognising emotions
• Self-esteem and communication skills
• Anger management
• Social skills
• Friendships
• Loss and bereavement

The ELSA continues to receive regular supervised sessions with the educational psychologists throughout the year with other ELSAs in the area.

How does ELSA work?

Children are referred by the class teacher, SENDCO or Senior Leaders and an ELSA session runs for 6 weeks with regular reviews to ensure impact for the child. The ELSA will discuss with the class teacher/SENDCO what intervention is required for each individual child. ELSAs are not there to fix the child’s problems but what we can do is provide emotional support and establish a respectful relationship and a safe space to share honestly their thoughts and feelings. You can find out more about ELSA here: www.elsanetwork.org.

Children’s Comments about ELSA

“I like coming because it makes me happy and I am listened to”

“ELSA has helped me to step out and make new friends and to join in with games”

“I like coming to ELSA because I can be open about things, our ELSA is very trustworthy”

“It makes me feel happy and it makes me feel calm”

“ELSA helps me when I am sad and worried. I like ELSA”

 

 

Drawing and Talking 

 

Drawing and Talking Therapy Training is an experiential rather than theory based training programme designed for anyone working with children or young people, who may be suffering from trauma or poor mental health. People suffering with poor mental health are often unable to express their feelings in ordinary verbal language. The Drawing and Talking therapeutic approach allows individuals to discover and communicate emotions through a non-directed technique. This is what sets Drawing and Talking apart from existing solution-focused and cognitive based therapies and intervention.  Staff undertake specific training to be able to run session. 

Mrs Clark, Mrs Wilson, Mrs Tuxworth and Mrs Chadwick are our trained staff.

 

Lego Therapy

These sessions focus on freestyle and collaborative LEGO® building projects, designed to encourage interactions between children and enable them to come up with their own solutions. Each week the group will divide up organised tasks, so that every member is assigned a defined and interactive role. Children work as a team, communicating together to build a shared project each week. 

LEGO® Therapy also supports the development of fine motor skills, creativity, perseverance, management of frustrations and task development without a fear of failing. Due to the consistency of the same children attending each week, it is also an opportunity for children to meet new peers in school. 

 LEGO® Therapy courses have 4 roles: The Architect, The Supplier, The Builder and The Director, which change each week.  All roles are clearly explained to each child at the start of the course.  
The collaborative teamwork encourages joint focus, sharing, communication, problem solving and reinforces positive behaviour and social contact. Social skills and conventions are encouraged and reinforced by the facilitator and the use of language skills, negotiation and compromise are discussed to help settle any conflicts or challenges. 

Staff trained in this are: Mrs Wilson, Mrs Chadwick, Mrs Chalimoniuk, Mrs Tuxworth and Mrs Clark