News from ELSA - July 2025

ELSA was delighted to host a recent event aimed at helping parents better understand the support for young people. The evening titled ‘Know where to turn ‘featured insightful presentations from two guest speakers: Angela Forster from Sasha’s Project and Katie Brophy form the Mental Health Support Team.

Both speakers shared the incredible work their organisation do to support young people’s mental health and wellbeing. They also offered practical tips and signposted valuable resources for families seeing guidance.

We are pleased to share some helpful resources from the evening, and we thank all who attended for making it such a positive and engaging event.

Mental Health Ambassadors

We are proud to announce that our third cohort of Mental Health Ambassadors has successfully completed their training. Year 9 and 10 students were invited to apply and those selected took part in a full morning of training delivered by our linked Mental Health Support Team and ELSA. These ambassadors are now equipped to offer peer support and signposting, helping to promote wellbeing and a supportive school environment.

They are currently working on ways to introduce themselves to the wider school community, watch this space for more updates!

Luna

Luna continues to make a positive impact at Calthorpe and has made some outstanding achievements this academic year. She has recently been acknowledged by the NSDA School Dog of the Year Award where she has been recognised as Highly Commended by their shortlisting panel (comprising members of the NSDA, RSPCA and PDSA). This award looked at the impact Luna makes in school as well as her wellbeing. Well done, Luna! This is an excellent achievement and highlights what an amazing job she does. From her friendly face greeting students, to her small group work sessions, she makes a difference that is felt in our school community.

Luna has also achieved her Silver Award through the Canine Assisted Learning Affiliate programme showing her progress and continued learning. She loves working with our students and enjoys helping them on their challenging days. She enjoyed her 4th birthday celebrations by having a mini gathering with the Year 6s on their transition day. She is looking forward to her summer holiday but will be here in September to greet all the students returning to Calthorpe with, I’m sure, a big, excited, waggy tail!