Emotional Literacy Support Assistant Training
Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) training equips school staff with the skills to support students’ emotional well-being and social development. This training, coupled with ongoing supervision, is crucial for skilled staff working with our most complex children, ensuring they have the expertise and guidance needed to provide effective, compassionate support.
“The course was an excellent experience and really challenges you to think about, develop and improve your practise, as well as providing tangible strategies and techniques to support the children and young people in our care”
“Empowering, Enriching and Evidence-Based”
“Insightful, Comforting and Reassuring”
“Max was informative, caring and thorough in her approach. She was mindful of areas that may have been triggering or tricky for participants and tailored her delivery of what we needed and what would be of most use to our cohort.”
Frequently Asked Questions
The ELSA programme builds the capacity of schools to support the emotional needs of their pupils. It is a 6-day training course, with follow up supervision delivered by two experienced Educational Psychologists. The course is designed to be interactive and experiential, making it engaging and practical for participants.
You can find out more about ELSA on their website.
Having an ELSA in your school will mean you are able to offer interventions and planned programmes of support to children experiencing emotional, social and behavioural difficulties. The ELSA will receive ongoing supervision from an Educational Psychologist.
The training covers the theory and practice behind emotional literacy, managing and regulating emotions, active listening, attachment and resilience through relationship building, bereavement and loss, self-esteem, motivation and confidence, social skill/ friendship development and solution-oriented practice. The course also includes instruction on how to plan and deliver tailored packages of support from groups and individual children, including, how to set targets, and monitor and evaluate children’s progress over time.
This training is suitable for staff who can be released to work directly with children and young people on a weekly basis (minimum requirement). The course is relevant to staff working in primary, secondary, and special settings.
Max Purpose Psychology, in collaboration with Sunshine Psychological Services, is planning to run the next ELSA Course in 2025. This course will be held in the North East of England. Get in touch to register your interest, find out more and join our waiting list.
