ELSA

Our ELSA’s are Miss Quirk and Mrs Hanstock.

 

What is an ELSA?

Here at Coddington, we value the whole child and are committed to developing our children both academically and emotionally. We have invested in two ELSA’s to provide additional pastoral support for those children who are experiencing some emotional challenges that are having a negative impact.

ELSA’s are ‘Emotional Literacy Support Assistants’. We help children to understand their emotions and to use strategies to deal with emotional challenges that they may be experiencing. We provide children with the time and space to think about their personal circumstances and how they manage them. These may include:

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

ELSA can be delivered in small groups where children are in need of similar support or alternatively in 1:1 sessions.

The ELSA will liaise with class teachers and or our SENDCo in the first instance to discuss children’s needs and then a referral may be made. Once the sessions finish, the child will hopefully be able to implement and transfer any guidance and any new skills taught into their regular routine. It may be that further support is required in the future, with a similar or different focus, in which case the child can be referred back to an ELSA.

ELSA intervention usually lasts for a half term but this can be extended due to individual needs.

Supporting - not ‘fixing’

An ELSAs role is to provide emotional support rather than ‘fix’ problems or take them away.  As ELSAs, our aim is to establish a warm, respectful relationship with a pupil and to provide a reflective, consistent space where they can openly share their thoughts and feelings.

It is important to recognise 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, support will be designed to target specific aspects of a child's need.  Training and development of ELSAs is an on-going process. We receive regular support from Nottinghamshire’s Educational Psychologists and supervision sessions are held termly for all ELSA’s in the area. Despite our commitment to training and development it is important to remember that wisdom is required to recognise when issues are beyond the level of expertise that could reasonably be expected of an ELSA.  In this case, it may be appropriate for school to sign-post to other avenues of support.

 

Further information

We try our very best to reach as many children as possible as soon as possible but in our ever-changing society there are lots of children coming forward with requirements for additional emotional support. Once a referral has been made, it may be that your child is placed on a waiting list until the appropriate support is available.

 If you think this is something that your child may benefit from, please speak to the class teacher in the first instance who will make the necessary referral to Miss Quirk/Mrs Hanstock.