What is ELSA ?
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 find solutions to their problems.
An ELSA is not there to fix problems but to help the child 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.
Scope of practice
It is important that ELSAs work within their scope of practice and only cover things they are trained to cover. Any concerns out of their scope of practice will be discussed with their Educational Psychologist and potentially referred on to outside agencies. ELSAs support children to understand their feelings and find strategies that work for them.
What areas does an ELSA help with?
• Loss and bereavement
• Emotional Literacy
• Self-esteem
• Social Skills
• Friendship issues
• Relationships
• Managing strong feelings
• Anxiety and worries
• Bullying
• Conflict
• Emotional Regulation
• Growth Mindset
• Social and therapeutic stories
• Problem solving
Where do sessions take place?
Ideally, the Pumpkin room, but sometimes, other quiet school spaces are used for ELSA intervention.
How are children or young people referred for ELSA?
• Class teacher referral
• Senco referral
• Parent referral
• Child referral
• Outside agency referral
How long should an ELSA Intervention last?
ELSA intervention should be a short-term focus intervention with clear aims. Usually half a term to a full term in length.
An ELSA in a school is an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant. ELSAs are trained and regularly supervised by the Educational Psychologists who trained them. Regular supervision meetings are essential to good practice and allow the ELSA to bring up any problems with a group of other ELSAs along with the Educational Psychologist.
ELSA – Short term focused intervention
The vast majority of ELSA sessions are proactive. This means there are targets for the ELSA to achieve with the child or young person. This makes the intervention measurable so the school knows the child or young person has made progress and the intervention has been successful. The targets are known as SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-limited. This might be a one-to-one session or a group session. The usual intervention is 6 sessions (half a term), but it could be a little longer if necessary. It is important the child or young person doesn’t become too attached and reliant on the ELSA because the aim for most children or young people is to cope independently with any challenges that they face.