What is an ELSA?
ELSAs are Emotional Literacy Support Assistants. They are a specialist teaching assistant with a wealth of experience of working with children. ELSAs are trained and regularly supervised by the Educational Psychologists.
An ELSA is a warm, caring person who wants to help the children at Abbey feel happy in school and to each their potential educationally. Their aim is to build emotional development and help them cope with life’s challenges. The ELSA will help your child find solutions to any problems that they have.
ELSAs can help with:
- Loss and bereavement
- Self esteem
- Social skills
- Friendship issues
- Relationships
- Anxiety
- Conflict
- Managing strong feeling
What do they do?
Your child will be offered 6-12 sessions initially and they can vary in time according to the age of your child. The ELSA will plan the session carefully. The structure of an ELSA session looks like this:
Emotional check in – this is an opportunity to talk about feelings.
Main activity – the ELSA will plan this carefully. This will be something your child will be able to do at the end of the session that they cannot do now.
Relaxation and review – your child will be taught a relaxation method and reflect on the session.
Who to contact?
If you think your child could benefit from ELSA sessions then please contact your class teacher.
