Mental Health and Wellbeing

Our Family Support Team

We have two dedicated Family Support Workers in school. Our Family Support Workers are:                                                                                                     

Ms Gilbert                                       Mrs Mumbray 

Our Family Support Workers are there for both our learners but also their families.  Their job is to support learners and families to overcome any barriers that are affecting their education.  They offer a range of services from Tier 2 family support including the completion of Early Help Assessments and leading Team Around the Child meetings, through to delivering evidence-based mental health and wellbeing interventions to our learners.  

If you have any issues you need to discuss, please contact them on 01205  353062 or email them direct emma.gilbert@bostonpioneersacademy.net and lauren.mumbray@bostonpioneersacademy.net

Therapeutic Intervention

For most of the time our rich and varied curriculum and our personal development opportunities meet our learners' needs. However, on occasion, we might identify an aspect of a child’s wellbeing that could be supported by some specific therapeutic learning. This might be a result of an impactful event, grief or loss, a social skill that could be developed further or as a result of their neurodiversity they may require a little more help than everyday school life provides.

Below you will find further details about some of the programmes we can offer:

 

LEGO Therapy

 This intervention is led by Miss Mumbray

LEGO-Based Therapy is a social development program that uses LEGO activities to support the development of a wide range of social skills within a group setting.

While initially developed for children with autism, LEGO-Based Therapy has since been found to benefit children with a variety of communication and social developmental difficulties.

Playing with LEGO in a therapy setting promotes social interaction, turn-taking skills, sharing, collaborative problem-solving and the learning of concepts. It can be used to target goals around social skills, language and motor skills. By using a commonly adored tool like LEGO it capitalises on its existing motivation and supports self-esteem by allowing the participants to demonstrate their skills in a social situation. It also sets up a positive opportunity for guided social problem-solving to help develop social skills that can then be used in other situations.

Children with autism sometimes find it challenging to understand what is expected of them in a social situation, particularly within unstructured play activities. LEGO-Based Therapy provides a highly structured environment where everyone plays a specific role within the group. This can help children with autism feel calm and relaxed as they are doing something that they enjoy and know precisely what to expect and what is expected of them.

What happens during a LEGO-Based Therapy session?

During a LEGO-Based Therapy session, three or four children of similar ages and abilities work together to build a LEGO model following. (For some specific cases, or as starting point, the therapist and the child may adopt a role each, if a bigger group is not suitable.)

Each child takes on one of four specific roles to do this:

· The Engineer oversees reading and relaying the instructions. The Engineer must tell the Supplier what pieces to retrieve and tell the Builder how to build the model.

· The Supplier oversees finding the correct LEGO pieces. The Supplier must listen to the Engineer and figure out what piece to retrieve, and then given these pieces to the Builder.

· The Builder oversees physically building the model. The Builder must listen to instructions provided by the Engineer and receive the pieces that are retrieved by the Supplier.

· The Foreman makes sure everyone is doing what they need to do. They provide help to other roles when needed and look out for social challenges that may need problem-solving by the group.

Using this format provides each child with an opportunity to practice and develop a wide range of skills, including language skills (in both giving and receiving instructions) turn-taking, negotiating, sharing and collaborative social problem-solving. It also encourages children to reflect on their own actions and skills as well as give constructive feedback to their peers.

 

ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support) - Led by Miss Gilbert

There will always be learners in schools facing life challenges that detract from their ability to engage with learning.  Some will require greater support to increase their emotional literacy than others. ELSA is an initiative developed and supported by educational psychologists. It recognises that children learn better and are happier in school if their emotional needs are also addressed.

The majority of ELSA work is delivered on an individual basis   Sessions are fun, we use a range of activities such as: games, role-play with puppets or therapeutic activities such as mindfulness or arts and craft.  

What is Emotional Literacy?

• Understanding and coping with the feelings about ourselves and others.
• Developing high self-esteem and positive interactions with others.

Being emotionally literate helps children focus better on their learning.

Ms Gilbert is our qualified Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA). She has been trained by Educational Psychologists to plan and deliver programmes of support to pupils who are experiencing temporary or longer term additional emotional needs.

In ELSA we aim to provide support for a wide range of emotional needs:

• Recognising emotions
• Self-esteem
• Social skills
• Friendship skills
• Anger management
• Loss and bereavement

How do children become part of ELSA?

Children are usually referred for ELSA support by their class teacher, senior leaders or by the SENCO.

Ms Gilbert meets regularly with both the SENDCo & Miss Bland to discuss the referral forms and to identify and prioritise which children require a weekly programme for the next 6-8 weeks and to discuss progress. With the programme aims in mind, she then plans support sessions to facilitate the pupil in developing new skills and coping strategies that allow them to manage social and emotional demands more effectively.

How does the Emotional Literacy Support work?

• A regular slot during the school week for 30-40 minutes.
• Sessions can be individual or in small groups and tailored to the child’s individual needs.
• Sessions are fun and might include role-play, puppets, board games, art and craft, and stories.
• They include time to talk.
• A pupil’s progress will be reviewed on a half-termly basis.

Supporting – not fixing

Remember, an ELSA is not there to fix children's problems. What they can do is provide emotional support.

They aim to establish a warm, respectful relationship with a pupil and to provide a reflective space where they

are able to share their thoughts and feelings honestly.

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 learners 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.

When it is identified that a learners' needs are beyond the level of expertise that could reasonably be expected of an ELSA. Mrs Lillwy, the Academy SENDCo will supports parents/carers with referrals to other services such as to CAMHS or the Mental Health Schools Team.  . The Educational Psychologist that works with our school has regular supervision sessions with our ELSA, and is able to offer advice on the suitability of or nature of ELSA involvement in complex cases.