ELSA

What is an ELSA?

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.

An ELSA is a specialist with a wealth of experience of working with children.  Their aim is to help children feel happy in school, to remove barriers to learning and to help them reach their potential educationally.  ELSAs are trained and regularly supervised by Educational Psychologists in Warrington.

Mrs Kirkwood, our Pastoral Lead, is the ELSA specialist at St Stephen’s who works directly with pupils.

Please click on the links to your right for help, advice and activities to help support your child’s emotional needs and wellbeing.

ELSAs help children and young people learn to understand their emotions and respect the feelings of those around them. They provide the time and space for pupils to think about their personal circumstances and how they manage them.  ELSA support was designed to build the capacity of schools to support the emotional needs of their pupils from within their own resources.

Our Aim

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. We can’t necessarily fix their problems but we can provide emotional support. 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. If additional support is needed, we will work with our families to organise additional support from other agencies.

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

• recognising and understanding emotions
• building self esteem
• social skills
• friendship skills
• anger and behaviour management
• loss and bereavement
• relaxation techniques
• transition / change

This involves teaching children skills to help them deal with their emotions.

How to refer a child for ELSA support

Children are usually referred for ELSA support by their class teacher, senior leaders or the SENDCo. With referral forms and discussions with teachers, we prioritise which children require a programme for the next 6 weeks. With the programme aims in mind, we plan support sessions to facilitate the pupil in developing new skills and coping strategies that allows them to manage social and emotional demands more effectively.

What do ELSA sessions look like?

Each session lasts from 30-45 minutes, once a week. They follow a format that includes time to talk (emotional check-in), a warm up activity, a planned main activity which will be interactive and may include a game, followed by some quiet, relaxation time to support mindfulness.

ELSA sessions may be 1:1 or group sessions.

Depending on the child’s needs, one off sessions can also be arranged as well as weekly check- ins rather than a programme of sessions.

Supporting – not fixing

ELSAs are not there to fix children’s problems. Instead they provide emotional support to those who need it. They aim to establish a warm, respectful relationship with a pupil and to provide a reflective space where children are able to share honestly, their thoughts and feelings.

For children with complex or long term needs it is unrealistic to expect ELSA intervention to resolve all of their difficulties, however support will be designed to target specific aspects of a child’s need.

What next?

ELSA’s are available for parent/carers to contact if they would like to discuss progress. Once the sessions finish, the child will be encouraged to implement and transfer any guidance and 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 re-referred back to an ELSA.