What is an ELSA intervention?
An ELSA in a school is an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant. There is a recognised training course aimed specifically at Teaching Assistants or other specialist school roles. ELSAs are specialists with a wealth of experience of working with children and young people. ELSAs are trained and regularly supervised by Educational Psychologists. The course tends to be 6 full days and covers many areas from emotional literacy to active listening.
ELSA Relationship
ELSAs are warm, kind and caring people who want to make children and young people feel happy in school and to reach their potential socially, emotionally and academically. They understand the barriers to learning that some children and young people might have and can help them with this.
They can support the children and young person’s emotional development and help them cope with life’s challenges. ELSAs will also help children and young people to find solutions to problems they might have.
An ELSA is not there to fix problems but to help them find their own solutions and offer that important support to a child or young person.
Relationships are key in helping children and young people to feel safe and nurtured. ELSA is about creating a reflective space for the child or young person.
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.