Our ELSA is Miss Bowen Davies.

An ELSA in a school is an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant. (There is a recognised training course for this role.) ELSAs are specialists with a wealth of experience of working with children and young people. They are trained and regularly supervised by Educational Psychologists and their training involves many areas from emotional literacy to active listening.

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 children 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.

An ELSA can 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