Pastoral Support Groups

The school runs a ‘nurture group’. This group is run by the ELSAs and is available to children who have been identified as requiring specific social, emotional or communication support. The nurture group provides regular timetabled sessions, where a small group of children can work and develop social skills, life skills and emotional resilience within a calm and nurturing environment.  The children are then supported to apply these skills to help their learning back in the classroom.

The school has two designated Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs) who run a variety of programmes to support children's emotional needs, such as recognising emotions, self-esteem, friendships, anger management or coping with bereavement. The ELSAs work with children on a 1:1 basis or in a small group, and the programmes usually run for about 6 weeks.

Our “Roots and Shoots” group is led by our ELSAs which is based on Forest School principles.  It includes focussed, outdoor activities offering children the opportunity to develop life skills, such as collaboration, social communication and developing friendships, in a structured and active way.

The group runs for one afternoon a week and the programme lasts approximately 8-10 weeks.