Lego Workshop

Lego workshop is a collaborative play therapy in which children work together to build Lego models.

Instead of building Lego sets by themselves, children work in pairs or teams of 3. The task of Lego building is divided into different roles such that social intervention is necessary to participate.  By doing this, children practice key skills of collaboration, joint attention, fair division of labor, sharing, turn -taking, eye-contact, gaze-following, verbal and non-verbal communication.

LEGO workshop is in both individual and group sessions during which natural opportunities are used to practice social communication, social support, social problem-solving and conflict resolution skills.

Drawing and Talking Therapy

Our mentor, Mrs Hill, is  now trained to deliver Drawing and Talking therapy which is a gentle, non-intrusive method of working with children who need a little help to support their emotional and learning needs. This is a 30-minute session held every week for twelve weeks. The needs of the child will be discussed to consider whether this is an appropriate therapy in order to meet the needs of the child.

The Power of Drawing

Drawing enables a child to express, in a visual form, worries and preoccupations from deep in the mind that they would not be able to talk about. Very often children just don’t know themselves at a conscious level what is wrong with them. The unconscious deeper mind always know though, it is all stored away. Drawings enable symbolic and safe expression of deep worries and feelings that may seem very dangerous to a child.

Expressing old hurts and present worries through drawing with someone who is receptive to the emotions being expressed in the pictures, activates a powerful healing mechanism in the psyche, possibly through the interaction between the right and left brain. Through the combination of drawing and talking combined, the different sides of the brain can interact with each other. The left side can see in the picture what the right brain has been holding onto, unable to send over to the left for processing.

Over time, with an empathic adult giving the child attention and talking with them in a gentle, thoughtful and supportive way, the child can create a story through pictures that sorts things out, a symbolic resolution that heals the old hurts and enables the child to move on. The process gives the child a feeling of control over events; through drawing they can make a different end to their story. When a child has been overwhelmed by events and has felt totally powerless, it’s important for them to get back a sense of power in their lives. Then the old memory can be safely stored as something that happened in the past and is not still happening now, and can be forgotten if necessary.

ELSA

What is an ELSA

An ELSA is a specialist teaching assistant with a wealth of experience of working with children. ELSAs are trained and regularly supervised by the Educational Psychologists in Lincolnshire. An ELSA is a warm and caring person who wants to help your child feel happy in school and to reach their potential educationally. Their aim is to remove the barriers to learning and to have happy children in school and at home.

Mrs D Hill is our  Emotional Literacy Support Assistant(ELSA). 

There will always be children and young people in school facing life challenges that detract from their ability to engage with learning, and some will require greater support to increase their emotional literacy than others. When our children find themselves struggling and encounter difficulties with their emotional health our ELSAs will be there to listen, provide additional TLC and support them.To do this they plan and deliver programmes of support and these can be delivered on an individual basis, but sometimes small group work is more appropriate, especially in the areas of social and friendship skills. Sessions are fun and we use a range of activities such as: games, role-play with puppets or arts and craft.  ELSA sessions take place in our very own 'ELSA room' which provides a calm, safe space for the child to feel supported and nurtured.

Our ELSAs can help with:

• Loss and bereavement
• Self-esteem
• Social Skills
• Emotions
• Friendship issues
• Relationships
• Anger Management
• Anxiety
• Conflict
• Relaxation Techniques

How does ELSA work?

Children are usually referred for ELSA support by their class teacher, Senior Leaders or on occasion the SENCo. Every half term there is a meeting with Mrs Hill , to discuss the referral forms and to identify and prioritise which children require a programme for the next 6-8 weeks. With the programme aims in mind, we then plan support sessions to facilitate the pupil in developing new skills and coping strategies that allow them to manage social and emotional demands more effectively.

Each session lasts from 30 - 45 minutes once a week. Each session includes time to talk (Emotional check-in) a planned main activity which will be interactive and may include a game, followed by some quiet,relaxation time.

We aim to establish a warm, respectful relationship with a pupil and to provide a reflective space where they are able to share honestly their thoughts and feelings. We can't necessarily fix their problems but we CAN provide emotional support.Also, change cannot necessarily be achieved rapidly and is dependent upon the context and complexity of the presenting issues. For children with complex or long-term needs it is unrealistic to expect ELSA intervention to resolve all their difficulties, however support will be designed to target specific aspects of a child's need. If additional support is needed, our ELSAs, along with the inclusion manager, can work with our families to organise extra help from other agencies such as the emotional health academy.