ELSA - Emotional Literacy Support Assistant

What is an ELSA?

There will always be children and young people in schools facing life challenges that detract from their ability to engage with learning, flourish and thrive and 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.

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At Dunbury, we have a trained ELSA who works across both sites.  They have been trained by Educational Psychologists to plan and deliver programmes of support to pupils who are experiencing temporary or longer term additional emotional needs. 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 with puppets or arts and craft.  ELSA sessions take place in our ELSA spaces, which provide a calm, safe space for the child to feel supported and nurtured. 

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In ELSA we aim to provide support for a wide range of emotional needs:

• Recognising emotions
• Self-esteem
• Social skills
• Friendship skills
• Anger management
• Loss and bereavement

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How does ELSA work?

Children are usually referred for ELSA support by their class teacher, Senior Leaders or, on occasion, the SENCo. Regular meetings are held to discuss, identify and prioritise which children require a programme of support for the next 6-8 weeks. The ELSA, class teacher and SENDCo will generate an action plan for support. The action plan is used to 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. 

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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.

It is important to remember that programmes are not designed to support children throughout their entire time at school, but are monitored, on a drop-in basis, to check if and how well, strategies are working. 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. The Educational Psychologist that works with our school would be able to offer advice on suitability or nature of ELSA involvement in complex cases.