Hammersmith & Fulham Educational Psychology Service

Would you like to increase your school’s capacity to support learners with their emotional wellbeing, mental health and social skills?

Would you like to intervene at an earlier stage?

Would you like to maximise the impact of your existing passionate and hardworking support staff?

Your school needs an ELSA!

What is an ELSA?

Emotional Literacy Support Assistants – school support staff (e.g. LSAs, learning mentors, librarians) who have been trained by educational psychologists to deliver targeted individual and small group sessions to support young people aged 4-19 with their social, emotional and mental health. Increasing a pupil’s emotional literacy is linked to improved academic performance and behaviour in class.  ELSA training enables primary and secondary schools to have a ‘go-to’ person in school, working towards the Government agenda set out in the 2017 Green Paper on ‘Transforming Children & Young People’s Mental Health Provision’.  The ELSA programme is nationally recognised and recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).  ELSA work fits in well with a graduated approach and having an ELSA may reduce the need to refer externally for specialist support (see https://www.elsanetwork.org/elsa-network/evaluation-reports/ for research and evaluation evidence of ELSA impact).

*£375 per ELSA for Hammersmith and Fulham state-maintained schools (this price is subsidised and substantially cheaper than neighbouring boroughs), or £675 for independent or ‘out of borough’ schools.

Group supervision is included for the remainder of this academic year, after which it is chargeable. In 2021-22 the cost is £150 per year per ELSA and costs are expected to be similar next year.

Before booking please confirm:

• ELSAs will be released to attend all training days and will not be contactable by schools (e.g. being expected to reply to emails) during the training sessions.
• After training, ELSAs will need to be released to attend supervision groups led by an educational psychologist each half term in order to become and remain accredited ELSAs. Non-attendance will mean that the ELSA will be removed from the register.
• Schools will need to provide ELSAs with protected time and space to plan and do the ELSA sessions with pupils/groups.
• Schools will need to provide ELSAs with support with managing referral systems.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION – you might be assigned to a different cohort running the same day. Please keep both sessions free until your place is confirmed.

I understand and agree to the above before completing booking.