ELSA

Your child's class teacher is the primary source of pastoral support for your child.  They can be contacted at the end of the school day at the gate or through email to the school office.  Parents can also message teachers directly through Class Dojo.

On occasion, matters can become too complex for Class teachers to manage in the limited time that they have available, we are fortunate therefore to have the support of an ELSA in school.

Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA)

Mrs Vile is our ELSA, she works within the pastoral care team and supports the emotional wellbeing of the children in our care.  She is a specialist teaching assistant with a wealth of experience of working with children. She has been trained and is regularly supervised by the Educational Psychologists in Sutton Local Authority.

The aim of her role is to remove the barriers to learning and to have happy children in school and at home.  She delivers bespoke programmes to support individual programmes and small groups.  These are some of the areas that she can support children with:

• Loss and bereavement (Rainbows and Sunbeams programme)
• Self-esteem (Wonderful Me)
• Social skills
• Emotions
• Friendship issues (Circle of Friends programme)
• Relationships
• Anger management (Zones of Regulation programme)
• Behaviour
• Anxiety
• Bullying
• Conflict
• Relaxation techniques

There are different ways for children to access ELSA support:

• Mrs Vile can respond at times to immediate issues during the school day.  For more complex issues during the day, she will always contact the child's parent to keep them informed.
• Parents seeking ELSA support for their child need to contact their child's class teacher, in the first instance, to discuss an ELSA referral.
• Mrs Vile or a member of the Senior Leadership Team may contact parents directly to recommend a period of ELSA support in response to needs identified by members of staff.
• ELSA support may be recommended by an educational professional or agency including CAMHS, educational psychology or children's services at the local authority.

Waiting List

Mrs Vile's time is quite limited, it is possible that some issues will need to be managed by other health professionals in the community.  There can be a waiting list for many of the groups.  Some groups require a minimum number of participants, other groups have limited spaces.

The ELSA Process

Most programmes are for six to eight weeks.  To help maximise the success of each programme, parents are contacted at the start and the end of each programme, parents can also keep in touch with her via email in case circumstances change.  We also have an evaluation form which can be completed.

On completion of each programme, every child will have additional coping strategies that they can use going forwards.

Confidentiality

Information shared in ELSA sessions is regarded as being highly confidential, information may be shared only to support children's wellbeing.