Hello, my name is Mandy Jones and I am the lead Teaching Assistant at King’s Cliffe Endowed Primary School. 

I have worked here for 15 years and during my time I have undertaken many qualifications to support my role as Learning Mentor for the children.  My qualifications include: mental health for learning, drawing and talking, Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA), mental health first-aider, loss and bereavement and supporting protective behaviours.

ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant)

ELSA is a one to one programme that is run in school weekly to support children’s emotional well-being.  The programme is designed to help children cope with self-esteem issues, friendship skills, social skills and dealing with loss and bereavement.

During these sessions, the children are allowed to express their emotions through many different activities, such as drawing, making models, social stories, and games, or simply just talking and listening.

Learning Mentor Sessions

These are also held on a one to one basis each week, where the children are encouraged to talk freely.

This programme is run entirely on an individual basis to suit the child. It often runs alongside other successful schemes, such as drawing and talking, where children use art to express their emotions.  The programme’s main aim is to help support the child to understand that you cannot change what has happened, but you can change how you think about it or deal with it.  This programme is most successful in helping children deal with loss, trauma, low self-esteem, friendship skills, social skills and anxiety.