Educational psychology support for schools and education settings

The North East Lincolnshire Educational Psychology Service is a team of educational psychologists all highly trained in child and adolescent development, research, assessment, interventions and learning.

For involvement in work with individual children and young people, the service requires schools or others to agree a Service Level Agreement (SLA).

Once in place all schools or others are required to complete the Educational Psychology Service Consultation Request Form, after a discussion has taken place with your school’s link Educational Psychologist.

If you are not aware of the name of your link Educational Psychologist please contact us on 01472 323183 or 01472 323314. Our staff will refer you to your relevant Educational Psychologist.

We offer:

a well established and highly experienced service
a range of specialist and innovative areas in educational psychology
positive child development and learning through the application of psychology
direct links to services in Education, Health and Social Care across North East Lincolnshire which means that you benefit from an effective and co-ordinated approach
up to date support based on the current research and latest ideas
registered educational psychologists (Health and Care Professions Council ) who receive supervision and continuous professional development within the service

We work with early years settings, schools, parents and carers and children and young people themselves to help to overcome barriers to successful learning and well-being. In education settings, our educational psychologists can work with individuals, groups, senior managers and across the whole school.

When you have commissioned the service, we will always negotiate the work with you and agree how best to respond to your needs. We will seek to support, complement and extend the knowledge and skills of your staff. We can respond flexibly and at different levels.

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

What are the essentials of a consultation approach?

Co-production with all involved, with the child/young person at the centre
All taking part understand what consultation involves
An appropriate time and place is allocated for the consultation
All participants 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 discussion
Parent and carer participation continually 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 assessment, 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/young person’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/young person, parents and carers 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, changes to the environment or signposting to other services or resources.

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

Individual and group level interventions

Below are some examples of the areas that interventions may be targeted towards:

Literacy and numeracy
Learning difficulties and style
Social awareness and skills
Emotional well-being
Self-esteem
Relationships and friendships
Attention and concentration
Memory
Sensory needs
Motor development
Therapeutic work
Curriculum access
Anxieties

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

Zippy’s Friends

Zippy’s Friends is a school based social emotional learning programme for 5-7 year olds. The programme is taught to the whole class by teachers trained in Zippy’s Friends in the UK and internationally.

The programme was developed jointly by Partnership for Children, academics and educational resources specialists.

The fundamental concept behind the programme is very simple – if we can teach young children how to cope with difficulties, they should be better able to handle problems and crises in adolescence and later life. Zippy’s Friends has been evaluated and found to improve children’s coping skills, social skills, emotional literacy, improve the class climate and reduce bullying.

There are six modules covering a range of topics:

Feelings
Communication
Making and breaking relationships
Conflict resolution
Dealing with loss and change
We cope

Apple’s friends

Apple’s Friends is a school based social emotional learning programme for 7 – 9 year olds, although, depending on developmental age, can be delivered to children up to the age of 11. The programme is taught to the whole class by teachers trained in Apple’s Friends in the UK and internationally.

Apple’s Friends was created in 2016 following the success of Zippy’s Friends. The programme reinforces skills learnt in Zippy’s Friends for 5-7 year olds but children do not need to have taken part in Zippy’s Friends to complete Apple’s Friends; it is an independent programme.

Apple’s Friends is based around a series of stories and the programme has 24 sessions of 45 minutes.

The six modules cover:

Feelings
Communication
Friendship
Conflict
Change and Loss
Moving forward

Children develop their own positive strategies to deal with problems through engaging activities: listening to stories, discussion, games, role-play and drawing.

The activities and stories are suitable for children of all abilities. Teachers can use the inclusion supplement to choose from a variety of activities for children with additional needs.

Whole school interventions – Video Interaction Guidance

Video Interaction Guidance is an intervention that aims to enhance communication within relationships. It works by engaging a client in a process of change, guiding them towards their hopes for a better future in their relationships with others who are important to them. VIG guiders support a position of respect and empowerment, recognising that people in troubled situations do want to change and with help, have the capacity to change their own situations.

VIG is usually used within a dyad of a child (of any age) and an adult (parent/carer or professional), although it can also be used within pairs or larger groups. It can be used by professionals to reflect on their communication with others to support professional development.

VIG is a strengths-based approach, focusing only on elements of interaction that are successful, and supporting clients to make changes where desired.

VIG principles and practice can be applied to any relationship and any age range. VIG can be used initially to support a dyad (e.g. mother and child) and then used systemically (e.g. with extended family and the team around the family). VIG may also be useful in supporting professionals, such as school staff, to improve communication and relationships.

Early Bird Plus

A 3 month training programme for parents/carers of young children (4-9 years) with a diagnosis of autism spectrum condition, and for any professionals who support them. The programme involves 8 group sessions and two home visits. Each training session lasts for approximately 2.5 hours, and each home visit for around 1.5 hours. Families receive a parent training book that they will need to work through the programme each session. It is also handy for them to constantly refer back to. In some instances, it may be possible to offer the parent training book in another language. Parents are asked to make a voluntary contribution of £30 towards the cost of running the course and training materials. However, cost should not be a barrier to family inclusion and ideally the programme should be delivered at no cost. The parent training is available from the National Autistic Society , via the Educational Psychology Service.

Parent drop in sessions

Some schools/academies decide to use their educational psychology time on termly drop-in sessions for parents/carers. These can be targeted e.g. attention difficulties or generic, depending on audience’s interests and questions. For additional information please discuss with your link Educational Psychologist.

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

Educational psychologists can work with you on whole school development and improvement around special educational needs, emotional health and well-being and meeting the needs of vulnerable students.

They can also provide:

action-research projects and evaluation
support to involve and engage parents and carers and children and young people
support to key staff
bespoke problem-solving, coaching and
supervision to support staff wellbeing

Training is available for a range of school staff, governors and parents and carers.

Training	Course name
Specific difficulties	Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)Autism spectrum disorder
Learning and cognition	Precision teachingBuilding exam resilienceReady to learn – relaxation, wellbeing and concentration
Social, emotional and mental health	AnxietyAttachmentLoss, separation and bereavementMental healthSelf- harmDomestic abuse
Interventions and approaches	Apple’s friendsHommunculiRestorative approach in schoolsSolution focused approachZippy’s friendsVideo Interaction GuidanceNational Autistic Society- Early Bird Plus

We are also always happy to discuss your individual circumstances to devise new training that meets your needs and requirements. Please ask your EP if you identify any training requirements that are not on the above list.

For training please discuss with your link educational psychologist or email [email protected] quoting Educational Psychology Service.

Contact details

Educational Psychology Service, Civic Offices, Knoll Street, Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, DN35 8LN

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 01472 323183

Opening times: Monday to Friday 9am to 4:30pm, except bank holidays