About the Educational Psychology Service

What we do

Some of the work that we do is commissioned by the Local Authority and some is requested by schools/settings that purchase time from our service. When we are asked to help the school/setting support individual pupils, we often start by doing some assessment work. Assessment can include conversations with the pupil, their family, school staff and others who know about what is happening. We may sit in on a lesson or go out on the playground so that we can see what is happening for ourselves. Sometimes, we will work directly with the pupil to discuss the situation and sometimes to present tasks or tests.  This will give us useful information about what they find easy and what they find difficult or it may help us to gain their views in a more structured way.  We will always try to make the people we are working with feel as comfortable as possible.

Once we have collected the information we need, we will usually meet with school/setting staff to discuss changes that can be made to make things better. It is likely that parents will be invited to this meeting. It is useful for everyone to share their opinions on the problems and how to make the situation better. We will share the information that we have collected and our thoughts on what we have found.

Some written feedback will be sent to the school/setting and it is expected that this will be shared with parents. It will provide a summary of information we have collected and agreed actions or recommendations. The school/setting will continue to monitor the progress of the child and we may agree to have a review meeting.

When it is helpful, we work jointly with other professionals, such as the Autism Team, Learning Support Team, Sensory Impairment & Physical Disability Team, Behaviour Support Team, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and members of Health and Social Care. We will only consult other professionals when we have your permission unless we have safeguarding concerns related to the overall safety and wellbeing of your child. If we had child protection concerns we can liaise with professionals without seeking your consent (as is expected practice for all professionals working to ensure children and young people are appropriately safeguarded). You can find further information about the Nottingham City Safeguarding Children Board on their website.

What else do we do?

Sometimes, a conversation about a situation is enough to help the people involved identify how to improve it. We offer consultations to schools/settings and families, where we use our knowledge of psychology to guide the conversation. Such consultations aim to help the adults involved to make positive changes for children and young people without the need for us to meet or work with those children and young people directly.

We offer training to schools/settings (that purchase time from our service) on a range of topics. All of the training supports schools/settings to use psychology in a way that will help their staff and pupils.

We support schools/settings to think about the way that they work and whether they can make changes which will lead to better outcomes for their organisation and the people that are part of it.

Work that is commissioned by the Local Authority includes:

• Contributing to assessments following a request for an Education, Health and Care Plan
• Providing independent advice following a disagreement around an Education, Health and Care Plan.
• Support for schools/settings following a traumatic incident
• Assessments with children who are new to the city/UK

What people say about us

The following comments have been received from schools/settings regarding our service:

“The EP’s work led to an immediate improvement in our situation. The feedback and communication were excellent throughout.”

“The support that we receive from our EP is invaluable to our school. It has helped us to develop staff knowledge and understanding when supporting our most vulnerable children.”

“Working with an EP allowed me to carefully consider the reasons behind children’s behaviours and the strategies I could use to support them.”

“Working with an Educational Psychologist gives us an invaluable insight into how children develop and a clear identification of their need. EP guidance and knowledge proactively enables us to deliver an individualised intervention and programme of support. They can help us unlock a child’s voice.”