ELSA

ELSA
ELSA Resources

Mrs. Rey

ELSA

What is ELSA?

ELSA stands for Emotional Literacy Support Assistant. ELSA is a program designed by educational psychologists to help children and young people overcome emotional challenges and improve their learning experience. By addressing their emotional needs, ELSA creates a more supportive and nurturing school environment.

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

Recognising emotions

Anxiety

Self esteem

Social skills

Friendship skills

Anger management

Loss and bereavement

How does ELSA work?

Remember, ELSAs are not there to fix children's problems. What they do is provide emotional support to those who need it. ELSAs aim to build trusting relationships and provide a safe space for children to share their feelings.

ELSA sessions should be qualitatively distinct from traditional classroom instruction. They are not designed to impart knowledge or dictate behaviour, but rather to cultivate greater self-awareness in pupils and to assist them in developing their own solutions and coping mechanisms.

Some ELSA work is delivered on a 1:1 basis, but sometimes small group work is more appropriate especially in the areas of social and friendship skills. Sessions are fun and engaging and we use a range of activities such as: role play, puppets, games or therapeutic activities such as mindfulness, arts and crafts. ELSA sessions take part in a safe space, which provides a calm area for the child to feel supported and nurtured in.