Bespoke support for pupils
At St John's, we work with a range of external agencies to apply worthwhile support to those pupils who require support. We offer a weath of provisions to pupils, ordinarily implemented through a graduated response.
Emotional Literacy Support Assistance (ELSA)
St John's applies the principles of Emotional Literacy, and we have a team of staff who work as ELSAs. Our ELSAs are warm, kind and caring staff who aim to make pupils feel happy in school. This enables them to reach their potential socially, emotionally and academically. They understand the barriers to learning that some pupils might have and can help them with this. They can support them with their emotional development and help them cope with life’s challenges. ELSAs will also help to find solutions to problems they might have.
An ELSA can help in a variety of ways, including
- Loss and bereavement;
- Self-esteem and emotional regulation;
- Social Skills, including the use of social and therapeutic stories;
- Friendship issues and relationships;
- Anxiety and worries;
- Bullying and conflict; and
- Growth mindset.
Pupils can be referred to an ELSA via a member of staff, an outside agency or via a parent/carer. ELSA intervention is usually a short-term focus intervention with clear aims for six-weeks, but can be extended where necessary to help pupils achieve their target. There are targets for the ELSA to achieve which makes the intervention measurable so the school knows the pupil has made progress and the intervention has been successful. The targets are known as SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time limited. ELSA is about creating a reflective space for the pupil and it is a very important intervention at St John’s to build pupil confidence and resilience.
Eye2Eye Counselling
Eye to Eye is a counselling service for children and young people, their families and the wider communities across RCT and Cwm Taf Morgannwg university health board. They offer free and confidential support for anyone between the ages of 10-30. We work with this service 2 days per week, on a Monday and a Tuesday. Counselling lets pupils speak to someone about their thoughts, feelings and about any problems they might be facing, someone who is an expert at listening, understanding and helping. They will never judge, and they will always keep what they are told confidential, unless what is discussed presents a safeguarding concern, which would be reported to the Designated Senior Person (DSP), Mr Toghill.
When a pupil meets their counsellor, they will introduce themselves and talk through how the service works. The philosophy of the service is based on the idea that we all need someone to talk to, and the counsellors are friendly, experienced and supportive. They are excellent listeners, and they are there to help pupils work through their worries and thoughts.
SHINE (ScHools INreach Emotional Wellbeing Service)
The SHINE project is a collaborative programme with the Children and Adolescent and Mental Health Service (CAMHS). It has been inspired by the Children's Commissioners “no wrong door report”, and its aim is to support schools in embedding a whole school approach to emotional wellbeing and mental health.
St John’s works with a specialist mental health nurse in providing the following services
- Supporting early identification of emotional and mental health issues in our pupils;
- Delivering staff training in key areas of wellbeing including self-harm, gender and identity, resilience and understanding, and the spectrum of mental health;
- Providing confidential parental consultations linked to any presenting individual pupil needs, including sleep patterns, anxiety, school refusing and other associated wellbeing or mental health concerns;
- Supporting the multi-agency approach of the school in attending key meetings for individual pupils; and
- Supporting the school’s development of a Well Being pupil group to share their thoughts and ideas as part of our commitment to pupil voice.
Their work can be viewed via the following link.
Behaviour Support
The Rhondda Cynon Taf behaviour support team work with the school in several ways, including
- Providing advice and provision of training around Social, Emotional, and Behavioural difficulties (SEBD) for teachers and support staff;
- Advice to schools on Individual Development Plans (IDP’s) and Individual Behaviour reports for targets and strategies, using the Boxall profile;
- Advice and guidance on individual or group intervention, providing strategies to improve behaviour and wellbeing, and the development of social, emotional and behavioural skills; and
- Multi-agency work to provide support to parents/carers, including attendance at meetings.
Educational Psychologist (EP) Support
The Educational Psychology Service (EPS) works with schools, children and young people to support their development, wellbeing, resilience, learning and achievement. They are person-centred in their approach, working with others to help to achieve the best possible outcomes. The focus of an Educational Psychologist’s work is to support and develop the skills of others. Parental/Carer consent is normally obtained prior to an Educational Psychologists working with a child or young person. Sometimes young people can give consent for themselves, depending on their age and level of understanding. Educational Psychologists work with children who have a wide range of needs in areas such as
- Learning;
- Language and communication;
- Sensory and Physical;
- Social and emotional development;
- Wellbeing and Behaviour; and
- Mental Health.
Working in partnership with parents, carers, families and others is important to ensure that any approach taken is holistic. Educational Psychologists are child-centred, taking care to listen to and promote the voice of the child. The school recognises that some children will have higher levels of need leading to the involvement of specialist services. Educational Psychologists are part of that graduated response and often become involved when parents, professionals and others seek their advice, and regularly use the following approaches
- Person Centred Planning;
- Personal Construct Theory;
- Solution focused intervention such as solution circles;
- Solution Focused Brief Therapy;
- Mindfulness; and
- Critical incident work.
YEPS
The Youth Engagement and Participation Service (YEPS) provides the statutory Youth Service for Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. This service is provided by a workforce of qualified staff made up of school-based workers, community-based youth workers, specialist youth work teams and skilled part time staff.
St John’s has a dedicated YEPS worker who provides the following support
- One to One support to young people with reintegration to school;
- To identify areas of need and develop an action plan to support these areas to increase resilience and young people’s wellbeing;
- To access other services (Barod, Sexual Health and other specialist agencies) ;
- Lunch Time Drop ins in school for advice, guidance and information;
- After school activities; and
- Issues based projects.
More information about YEPS can be found on their website, which can be accessed via the following link. can viewed via the following link.