ELSA
ELSA stands for Emotional Literacy Support Assistant. The ELSA programme is designed to build the capacity of schools to support the emotional needs of children from within their own resources. The individualised programme recognises that children learn better and are happier in school if their emotional needs are also addressed.
An ELSA trained member of staff will provide targeted emotional wellbeing support to children, helping them to understand and manage their feelings like worries, friendships and anger. ELSAs use activities like games, role-play and art in a safe space to build resilience, remove learning barriers and foster emotional health, working individually or in small groups.
ELSA is an initiative developed and supported by educational psychologists, who apply their professional knowledge of children’s social and emotional development to areas of need experienced by pupils. They provide on-going professional supervision to help maintain high quality in the work undertaken by ELSAs, thereby helping to ensure safe practice for ELSAs and pupils alike.
If you would like to discuss your child’s social, emotional and mental health needs, you should speak to your child’s class teacher in the first instance.
More information about ELSA can be found here: