ELSA

At Bensham Manor we provide ELSA Support on Fridays. ELSA stands for Emotional Literacy Support Assistant. An ELSA is a trained Teaching Assistant who plans and delivers programmes of support to pupils at school for a set period of time, who may be experiencing short or long term additional emotional needs.

ELSA Support understands that our students learn best when they feel happier and their emotional needs are being addressed. Examples of areas an ELSA can support a child with are social skills, bereavement, social situations, therapeutic stories, anger management, self-esteem, real-life problem-solving skills and friendships.

A lot of work that an ELSA does will be on an individual basis with one child, however, there are cases where group sessions may be appropriate such as when working on social skills and friendship skills. A typical ELSA programme will last for 2 introductory sessions and then 6-8 weekly sessions.

ELSAs regularly attend group supervision along with other local ELSA’s, led by an Educational Psychologist.Parents / Carers will receive a letter to advise you if your child is referred for ELSA support.