Frequently Used Approaches
This page contains information on some commonly used approaches within our service. An Educational Psychologist may suggest viewing this page before completing specific work within the setting.
What is ELSA?
ELSA stands for Emotional Literacy Support Assistants. Originally developed in Hampshire by EP Sheila Burton, ELSA is a national programme. It is well researched and there is an excellent evidence base. Telford and Wrekin Educational Psychology Service (EPS) is a member of the national ELSA network and provides ELSA training, supervision and further development opportunities to key school support staff.
Telford & Wrekin EPS is proud to hold the ELSA Quality Mark, reflecting the high quality of our initial training and ongoing supervisory support for ELSAs.
ELSA is a preventative initiative giving school staff with in-depth training and on-going supervision to develop the social and emotional well-being of Telford & Wrekin pupils. Once trained, ELSAs are able to provide targeted and time-limited intervention support to pupils who have social, emotional and mental health needs. There is a national online ELSA support network where ELSAs can link up to share resources and ideas, and we facilitate networking and resource sharing between our local ELSAs. We currently have ELSAs working across Early Years, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary and specialist settings, and are proud to hold links with our colleagues in Sensory Inclusion, Behaviour Support and Strengthening Families.
ELSA training covers the following areas:
Social Skills |
Emotional self-regulation |
Grief, bereavement & loss |
Friendships & Circles of Friends |
Self-esteem & Resilience |
Anxiety |
Relationships |
Security |
Belonging |
‘Anger’ Management |
Thinking skills & Competence |
Emotions and neurodiversity (autism, ADHD…) |
Motivational Interviewing |
Lego-based therapy |
Social & Therapeutic Story-Writing |
The EP service also provides our ELSAs with templates and resources to enable effective programme planning, monitoring, SMART target writing and recording of sessions.
Please contact our CPD team to register your interest in future training opportunities: CPDSchool.Improvement@telford.gov.uk
For further information on the ELSA initiative please visit www.elsanetwork.org.
