At Elizabeth Woodville Primary School we ensure that pupils' mental health and wellbeing is at the heart of all we do.  We have summarised below some of the resources and opportunities available.  These include wellbeing clubs and dedicated support sessions through our Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA).

Growth Mindset

Teaching a Growth Mindset is built into everyday learning at Elizabeth Woodville Primary School and supports our children to:

• take on challenges
• push themselves outside of their comfort zone
• continue making improvements through perseverance
• to believe in themselves

Having a Growth Mindset (rather than a Fixed Mindset) inspires people to be happy and successful. Which is exactly what we want for our children! 

Emotional Support

It is not always easy for children to reach out for emotional support, that is why we:

• assist children to understand their emotions better
• to feel comfortable sharing any concerns or worries
• to support them in building emotional resilience

Many children go through tough times just like adults and in those moments, the smallest acts of kindness can make a big difference. We spread kindness in school through our ‘bucket filling’ challenge, which also encourages our children to be kind to themselves.

Our pupils know that if they are experiencing ‘big, difficult feelings’ such as; anger, anxiety or sadness that are not going away, they can:

• send their worry away by putting it into our school ‘worry beehive’
• talk to their class teacher
• a friend
• someone at home
• speak to Ms Patel, our Emotional Literacy Support Assistant.

ELSA

What is an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant?

The name of our ELSA in school is Ms Patel, who provides high levels of care and support for our pupils' wellbeing and mental health.

An ELSA is a member of staff with a wealth of experience of working with children. ELSAs are trained and regularly supervised by Educational Psychologists. An ELSA is a warm and caring person who wants to help your child feel happy in school and to reach their potential socially and academically.  Their aim is to remove any barriers to their learning or wellbeing and to have happy, healthy pupils in school and at home.

ELSA support can be requested by parent/carers if a child is going through a particular difficult time in their life, or if they have concerns about their child’s mental health or emotional wellbeing. An ELSA will help children learn to understand their emotions and respect the feelings of those around them. They can provide time and space for pupils to think about their personal circumstances and how they can manage them.

Some of the areas the ELSA may work on:

• Loss and bereavement
• Parent separation
• Support through a serious illness
• Self-esteem
• Social skills
• Emotions
• Friendship issues
• Anger management
• Behaviour
• Anxiety
• Conflict

Zen Den

Our ZEN DEN is a space for children to relax, play, be creative and chat.

Sessions usually run for 6 weeks and are voluntary. They are intended to create a calm space for children who may find it difficult at playtimes to socialise or maintain friendships, or who would benefit from having an extra opportunity to relax or talk. We carry out a variety of group discussions, games, creative play and, most of all, have fun whilst learning new social and communication skills.