Every child matters and all children need to feel safe, valued, special, appreciated and included.

We want every child coming to our school to feel happy, content and confident, ready to embrace the day in our secure, caring and friendly environment.

However, some children face challenges, which can sometimes mean they have greater social and emotional needs than others. At Luston and Shobdon we are able to use the Thrive Approach and ELSA sessions to support and guide children, allowing them to develop emotionally and to recognise their feelings, with the goal of helping them to manage these appropriately.  

We aim to:

• Provide alternative support for children who are experiencing emotional, social or behavioural difficulties.
• Provide a safe and calm environment for children to develop their skills.
• Enable children to take pride in their achievements and enhance self-esteem.
• Help children to manage their feelings and develop skills to enjoy and participate in school life.
• Use positive approaches to manage all behaviours.

Thrive Approach

Thrive is a therapeutic approach to help support children with their emotional and social development.

The Thrive Approach offers practical strategies and techniques and is built around online assessments which identify children’s emotional development and provides action plans for their individual needs.

Research has shown that how we behave is linked to how we feel and our emotions are linked to how we learn. By teaching children to recognise and notice these feelings and emotions it can help with their development and learning. Children sometimes need some extra support with their emotional growth and this can be temporary or over a longer period of time.

Thrive promotes their emotional and social growth by building positive relationships between a child and their peers and helps them explore and understand their feelings through various activities.

Why might my child attend a Thrive session?

Many children experience difficulties during their time at school.

These may include:

• Difficulties with friendships.
• Getting into trouble at playtime.
• Finding it hard to settle in the classroom.
• Finding it difficult to manage their strong feelings.
• Not knowing who to turn to when feelings are too big to manage on their own.

These situations can lead to many different feelings which may seem overwhelming at times. They might include: anger, frustration, sadness, loneliness, confusion or anxiety. 

All these feelings are very normal and happen to a lot of children. The Thrive sessions are to help children learn to manage their feelings and teach them strategies that will help promote their learning at school.

What will happen in a Thrive session?

The session may be on an individual basis or as part of a small group of children. During each session there will be an activity which may include: storytelling, circle games, arts and crafts, sand play, movement and relaxation, hand and foot massage, role play and puppet work, games.

ELSA

ELSA is not an initiative to fix problems but to provide emotional support.

The our ELSA trained practitioners aim to establish a warm, respectful relationship with pupils and to provide a reflective space where they are able to share honestly their thoughts and feelings.

It needs to be appreciated that 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.