Emotional, Social and Mental Well-being

The Ark

The Ark is our school's designated space to help us promote good mental health and well-being. Having a dedicated space allows the children to feel safe and comfortable to talk about how they are feeling, their concerns and ask for help.

ELSA

ELSA– Emotional Literacy Support Assistant.

Some children in school may face life challenges which can make engagement with learning more difficult, or they may need support to increase their emotional literacy. ELSA is an initiative developed and supported by Educational Psychologists. It is recognised that children learn better and are happier in school if their emotional needs are addressed.

Mrs. Schofield is our trained ELSA in school. Support is offered on an individual or small group basis. Sessions are planned and are delivered in a fun way using games, therapeutic stories and art and craft activities, tailored to the child and their area of need.

Our ELSA sessions take place in The Ark, our ELSA room, providing a calm, safe space for children to feel supported and nurtured.

How it works

Usually, the class teacher refers a child for ELSA support. If a parent has concerns and would like to explore the possibility of ELSA for their child, they should speak with the class teacher in the first instance. If support is needed, sessions are planned to support the child to develop new skills and strategies to enable them to manage social and emotional demands more effectively.

Each session is approx. 30 mins and usually run for 6 weeks during an afternoon.

Aims

The aim of the ELSA is to provide emotional support by developing warm and respectful relationships with pupils and to provide a safe, reflective space where they can share their thoughts and feelings honestly.

ELSAs use skills such as active listening, open questioning and problem clarification to support conversation. Pupils are assisted to explore solutions and strategies for themselves. ELSA sessions can not fix problems, however support is designed to target specific areas of need.

ELSA aims to provide support for a wide range of emotional needs:

Recognising Emotions

Self Esteem Loss and Bereavement

Social Skills Anger Management

Friendship Skills Anxiety

What is Mental Wellbeing?

It is how we are feeling and coping with the things we face in everyday life. Just like physical health, sometimes it is good and sometimes not so good. You could think of it as your mental fitness.

I am sure you will agree that there has never been a more important time to speak openly about mental health and wellbeing with children and young people and to encourage them to talk about their feelings with family, friends, and trusted adults.

Research tells us that building the following proven five simple ways into our everyday lives can make a really positive difference to the mental health and wellbeing of both children and adults alike and help to build resilience and confidence.

Talk and listen – CONNECT
Be ACTIVE
Remember to TAKE NOTICE
Keep LEARNING Every Day
Acts of Kindness – GIVE to others

We will be sharing information with the children about the 5 ways to wellbeing through assembly and then exploring how we can put them into practice everyday both in school and at home. The focus of the project will be to highlight to the children how the 5 ways to wellbeing can easily form part of their daily lives and link to their everyday experiences and to know that by doing these 5 things every day, they are taking good care of their mental health.

You may already have heard of the 5 ways to wellbeing as this freely available NHS guidance has become more widely used since the start of the pandemic. One of our key aims as soon as the COVID restrictions allow will be to provide an opportunity for our parents and carers to find out more about the project and to become more involved. In the meantime, the 5 ways to wellbeing guidance is available for parents on the NHS website at www.nhs.uk. You can also find further information about how to apply the guidance at home at www.youngminds.org.uk/amillionandme and on our school website.

We are feeling incredibly positive about promoting the 5 ways to wellbeing guidance in our school community and we welcome the opportunity to encourage our children and staff to reflect on the 5 ways each day in school and the positive steps they can take to look after their own mental health.

We will keep you informed about the project over the coming weeks through Class Dojo and our Facebook page and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at all.

Best wishes

Mr K Leader