Educational Psychology Service - support for schools

A consultation approach helps those involved to work collaboratively to develop solutions. It brings together those most concerned to explore, problem-solve and plan ways forward. A consultation meeting provides the framework for possible assessment and intervention planning.

Consultation is a collaborative process where the contribution of each participant has equal value. It is a process that helps teachers be successful in managing concerns and achieving jointly agreed outcomes that are practical and achievable in their context.

The essentials of a consultation approach involve:

• all taking part to understand what consultation involves
• an appropriate time and place are allocated for the consultation
• all participant's views are valued
• achievable outcomes or ‘hopes’ are established at the beginning
• the focus is on shared problem solving
• follow up is arranged to evaluate outcomes and plan further actions
• students' views are sought and central to the discussion
• parent and carer participation is promoted

Ideally, consultation is the starting point for assessment work so this has a clear purpose and is based on information that those who know the child best have shared. We offer a range of psychological assessments, from observation to specialised and focused/diagnostic assessments of general or specific skills.

We use psychological techniques and therapeutic approaches to elicit information about the child’s perceptions and their social, emotional and mental health.

We make sure that our assessment data is presented clearly, and we combine it with the views of the child, parents and teachers to give a psychological formulation of a child's current situation.

Your psychologist will help you to link this formulation to practical and effective intervention.

Working with your psychologist through consultation and assessment will identify interventions. These may be particular programmes, teaching approaches, environmental changes, or signposting to other services or resources.

Your link educational psychologist and/or psychology assistant can provide individual, group and class-based interventions that use evidenced-based psychological approaches and techniques or models and support school staff to provide these (dependent on training).

Individual and group-level interventions

Examples of areas that interventions may be targeted towards include:

• literacy and numeracy
• learning difficulties and style
• social awareness and skills
• emotional well-being and regulation
• emotionally-based school avoidance
• self-esteem
• relationships and friendships
• attention and concentration
• memory
• sensory needs
• motor development
• therapeutic work
• curriculum access

This may be at the individual child level, with groups of children or staff, or at the whole school level. Interventions may be discussed with the child, parent or carer, and school as part of the plan.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) group interventions

For those in Key Stage 1, the group intervention 'Zippy's Friends' provides straightforward materials and lesson plans to cover 24 weekly whole class sessions.

There are 6 modules covering a range of topics, such as:

• feelings
• communication
• marketing and breaking relationships
• conflict resolution
• dealing with loss and change
• we cope

Whole school interventions

Targeted mental health in schools (TaMHS) is an example of a whole-school intervention - a suite of interventions, training and development support that promotes mental health and psychological wellbeing.

TaMHS responses can be delivered to the individual child or young person and individual adult who works with a young person, right through to groups and whole-school interventions.

Schools can commission bespoke training or development work directly from the Educational Psychology Service (as part of their service level agreement) or attend centrally organised training.

View our training page for courses available.