The Cobbs Infant and Nursery School

At our school we actively promote health and wellbeing for both our staff and children and have signed up to the government's Wellbeing Charter. We have a named Wellbeing Team in school consisting of two trained mental health first aiders, a named wellbeing governor and the headteacher. Their role is to support staff and children with wellbeing on a daily basis, monitor and promote wellbeing across the school and ensure that the Wellbeing policies for staff and children are being implemented and followed. Health and wellbeing are taught to children throughout the curriculum and also embedded in our daily routines and practice. We know that only happy, healthy children can be ‘the best that they can be’.

Health

Healthy lifestyles are taught to children through our Science, PSHE, DT and PE curriculums. Whilst in school children follow healthy lifestyle choices as part of our school ethos to create a safe and healthy learning environment. As members of the free fruit scheme children throughout school and nursery have a healthy snack of fruit or vegetables each day. They also have access to fresh water from their water bottle. Children in school run the track every day as well as having a morning and lunchtime play outside. Early Years children have access to outdoors throughout their continuous provision sessions. Handwashing and dental health are taught specifically in Early Years supported by visiting professionals like the school nurse. We actively encourage children to engage in out of school physical activities by celebrating their achievements in assembly time as well as inviting specialists to run after school clubs.

ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) Information for Parents/Carers

What is an ELSA?

ELSAs are Emotional Literacy Support Assistants. They are teaching assistants who have had special training from Educational Psychologists to support the emotional development of children and young people in school. ELSAs have regular professional supervision from Educational Psychologists to help them in their work. 

What does an ELSA do? 

ELSAs help children learn to understand their emotions and respect the feelings of those around them. They provide the time and space for pupils to think about their personal circumstances and how they manage them. The sessions take place for 30 minutes once a week in our Puffin room which provides a calm, safe space for the child to feel supported and nurtured.

 How does ELSA work? 

Most ELSA programmes will last for 6 weeks, helping the child to learn some specific new skills or coping strategies. Clear, achievable targets are set early on and each session has an objective - something the ELSA wants to help the child understand or achieve.  Sessions are fun and use a range of activities such as: games, sensory activities and arts and craft. 

Who is the ELSA? 

Our trained ELSA is Miss Arnett who will liaise regularly with teachers and Mrs. Palfreyman, our SENDCo, to discuss progress and check on whether new skills are being transferred into the classroom. 

Why may my child been chosen? 

Your child may be identified by their class teacher or SENDCo as someone who would benefit from a series of ELSA sessions. Target areas of concern will be identified and the ELSA will plan support sessions to facilitate the child to develop new skills and coping strategies that allow them to manage social and emotional demands more effectively.

What issues can an ELSA help with? 

• understanding emotions,

• self-esteem,
• social skills, 
• self-regulation,
• friendship skills, 
• anxiety,
• anger management, 
• loss and bereavement.

ELSA Interventions 

Communication Intervention 

This intervention is meant for working proactively with a child on their communication skills. It covers: listening skills; tone of voice; loudness/quietness of voice; emotion; gestures/body language; eye contact. We also look at communicating our emotions and emotional vocabulary. 

Self Esteem 

These sessions aim to enhance a child’s self-esteem and build their confidence. These sessions consist of activities which aim to encourage the creation of a positive image of themselves; allow the child to identify what is special to them; share their ideas and opinions and celebrate their strengths, successes and achievements. 

Anger Management Intervention 

This intervention is intended to help children who struggle to regulate their emotions. It promotes awareness of feelings associated with anger and the consequences of angry outbursts; working to establish the triggers to help manage anger and utilise calming down strategies. 

Anxiety and Worries Intervention 

This intervention is useful for children who struggle to regulate their emotions or suffer high levels of anxiety. It uses psychology-based techniques, aimed at helping students to calm down in school. This Anxiety and Worries intervention covers emotions, relaxation, calming down techniques and learning objectives around anxiety and worries. Children will learn about emotions during each session and will also learn relaxation and calming techniques. This knowledge and these skills will help them to become more emotionally literate. 

Loss and Grief (Bereavement and Separation) 

These sessions are aimed at helping children to cope with the death of a loved one but can be adapted to help children whose parents are separating/divorcing. Each child may react differently to the loss of a loved one, so these sessions will be flexible in order to meet their individual needs. These sessions aim to enable the child to discuss their feelings; give the child the opportunity to share memories and information about their loved one and create artwork to reflect their memories; provide an opportunity for the student to create a memory box to store precious memories; enable the child to identify important people in their life which can help them to cope; and help the child to learn coping strategies and calming down techniques. 

Emotions Games and Activities 

Enhancing children’s emotional intelligence will raise their levels of motivation, self-awareness, empathy, social skills and emotion regulation. This intervention covers the four basic emotions: happy, sad, angry and scared. Children are helped to recognize and name these emotions, understand what they mean and describe them.

Friendship and Social Skills Intervention 

This intervention is aimed at children who find it difficult to initiate and/or maintain friendships or struggle to cooperate with others. The sessions include activities which encourage the children to understand their feelings and those of others and promote peaceful conflict resolution. Social skills are an essential part of life, so developing these early helps children to interact appropriately with others and assist them to build positive relationships with their peers. These sessions will consist of a variety of games and activities which aim to encourage turn-taking, enhance speaking and listening skills, encourage concentration, understand actions and consequences and encourage empathy, develop cooperation and collaboration with others. 

If you have any questions or feel that this is something that may benefit your child, please contact Mrs. Palfreyman or Miss Arnett via the school office.

School Health Team