Wellbeing and Equal Chances

At St Nic's, we are proud to have built a strong community. Our staff are a team and we communicate well and support each other. Teachers, teaching assistants, lunchtime supervisors, play leaders, office staff and senior leaders work together to support every child in the school.  Whatever their circumstance or need, your child is a St Nic's child and our children are at the heart of everything we do.

We explicitly teach children to speak to an adult at school as soon as possible when they are afraid or worried about anything. Please reinforce this at home. This way, we can help them navigate difficulties early, and support them to resolve any problems as independently as possible. Where further or ongoing adult support is needed, we arrange this as a team. 

Sometimes, children need a little extra support. We recognise this and over the last few years have implemented initiatives including regular check-ins with a named adult. This is simple but effective, giving the child some dedicated personal time to express themself and make a bond with a supporting adult.

If you feel your child is struggling, please arrange to speak to their class teacher in the first instance. Their class teacher knows them best, and is well supported by the senior leadership team. Monitoring and supporting wellbeing and friendships is an integral part of our work, along with continuing weekly education on how to manage personal, health and social issues through our flexible and positive Coram Scarf PSHE lessons. 

Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) 

Mrs Brown is our trained ELSA in school.

An ELSA is a teaching assistant who helps children and young people develop emotional literacy, social skills, and positive mental health. ELSAs work with children individually or in small groups to help them understand and regulate their emotions, and respect the feelings of others. ELSAs are trained by educational psychologists and receive ongoing supervision.

ELSAs have been trained to work with children who are showing a wide range of emotional or social difficulties for example; anxiety, low self esteem, problems with anger etc. ELSAs have been chosen for their ability to build good relationships with children.

ELSAs are warm, kind and caring people who want to make children and young people feel happy in school. and to reach their potential socially, emotionally and academically. They understand the barriers to learning that some children and young people might have and can help them with this.

They can support the children and young person’s emotional development and help them cope with life’s challenges. ELSAs will also help children and young people to find solutions to problems they might have.

An ELSA is not there to fix problems but to help children find their own solutions and offer that important support .

Relationships are key in helping children and young people to feel safe and nurtured. ELSA is about creating a reflective space for the child or young person.

What areas does an ELSA help with?

• Loss and bereavement
• Emotional Literacy
• Self-esteem
• Social Skills
• Friendship issues
• Relationships
• Managing strong feelings
• Anxiety and worries
• Bullying
• Conflict
• Emotional Regulation
• Growth Mindset
• Social and therapeutic stories
• Problem solving

How are children or young people referred for ELSA?

• Class teacher referral
• Sendco referral
• Parent referral through their school
• Child referral through their school
• Outside agency referral

How long should an ELSA Intervention last?

ELSA intervention should be a short term focus intervention with clear aims. Usually half a term to a full term in length.