Supporting children’s emotional wellbeing

For some multilingual children adapting to life in a new country, a new culture and a new language can be a stressful experience. For this reason, EMTAS has worked with Hampshire Educational Psychologists to develop two new roles: Bilingual Emotional Literacy Assistant (B-ELSA) and Bilingual Therapeutic Listening Assistant (B-TALA). Members of the EMTAS team have been ELSA- or TALA- trained and are able to offer this sort of support to children in schools.

EMTAS B-ELSA support

Our B-ELSAs speak Ukrainian, Russian and English. They collaborate closely with school-based ELSAs to support with children with areas such as recognising their emotions, self-esteem, social skills, emotional regulation, loss and bereavement. The B-ELSA uses their skills in other languages and their knowledge of children’s home cultures to help bilingual children access the support.

  • ELSAs and B-ELSAs work together to set a target and to plan and deliver sessions with children.
  • Sessions are regular slots, ideally at the same time each week
  • Sessions can be individual or – in primary phase - with small groups of children
  • Sessions are tailored to the needs of the child(ren)
  • Sessions are fun, using activities like board games, puppets, role-play and stories
  • Sessions include time to talk
  • The child's progress is reviewed at the end of the planned block of sessions.

The collaborative approach whereby the EMTAS B-ELSA works with the school-based ELSA has proved to be a powerful way of helping children feel seen, heard and understood.

EMTAS B-TALA support

EMTAS TALA-trained Bilingual Assistants (B-TALAs) provide one-to-one empathic listening and play-based sessions for multilingual children who are experiencing emotional difficulties. They travel to schools to meet pupils individually. Because the B-TALA shares the child’s language, the child may choose whichever language they feel most comfortable using in their sessions — an option that can be critical during moments of stress or vulnerability.

  • Sessions are delivered 1-2-1, ideally at the same time each week
  • Sessions are child-led – the child determines what they want to talk about each time
  • The child's progress is reviewed at the end of the planned block of sessions.

For multilingual pupils and young people, the presence of a B-TALA represents not only emotional support but also recognition of their linguistic and cultural identity within the school setting. Hence B-TALA support enables children to articulate concerns, feelings and experiences within the framework of their own identity.

EMTAS B-TALAs are able to support children and young people bilingually in nine languages: Dari/Farsi, Hungarian, Pashto, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Spanish, Thai and Urdu.

Use this form to refer a child for B-ELSA or B-TALA support: Bilingual ELSA (B-ELSA)/Bilingual TALA (B-TALA) referral form – Fill in form.