Dundee Educational Psychology Service

Most individual referrals to the educational psychology service come via the school or nursery setting a child attends, as EPs regularly visit educational establishments and work very closely with them. However parents/carers in the Dundee area are also welcome to contact the service directly if they have concerns or wish advice. 

Before the educational psychologist will become involved in providing any advice or support to a school, nursery or other agency, the person seeking support should ensure they have permission from the parent/carer to talk to the psychologist about their child. The only exceptions would be (1) if the psychologist was part of a multi-agency team where there was already general consent from parents for individuals to be discussed (for example a school support team meeting, or a placement panel), or (2) if a young person over the age of 12  specifically requested support from the psychological service without their parent/carer being informed, which is highly unusual.

After this initial contact either by phone, email, letter, or face-to-face discussion as part of a routine visit to a school, the educational psychologist will come to a meeting, usually held in school/ nursery which should involve the parent/carer, the child or young person, if appropriate, and relevant education staff. Discussion at this meeting will begin to explore the issues and start to plan the best way forward to support the child in question with any barriers to their learning. The educational psychologist will seek to ensure that the views of the parent/carer and pupil are taken into account in any planning, and that the role of the EP is clear.

DEPS provide assessment that is consistent with the guidelines produced by the Scottish Division of Educational Psychology and the Association of Principal Educational Psychologists.

Educational psychologists have gained a psychology degree and undertaken postgraduate professional training in educational psychology. This enables them to combine an understanding of children's learning, behaviour and educational development within educational systems. A condition of employment for educational psychologists in Dundee is that they are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council and maintain their professional competence through continuing professional development.

Providing a Service

Educational psychologists work with schools, families, the local authority and nationally. They are a statutory service under the 1980 Education Act (as amended by the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004). In keeping with statutory expectations and recommendations from a national review of Psychological Services, DEPS provides a service within Dundee to address four connected themes:

• consultation and advice
• assessment and intervention
• training and development work
• research and policy advice

Each school has a link educational psychologist. Prioritising how the educational psychologist's time is used by a school is negotiated jointly between the educational psychologist and the school. Annual review of the partnership agreement between the school and the link psychologist will evaluate the impact of the shared work in relation to the four themes identified above. Supporting positive change means that we work collaboratively and develop good partnerships. These considerations also mean that the impact of the psychologists work is often indirect, and specific strategies will be delivered through relevant adults (teachers, parents, carers).

Consultation involves a meeting between all relevant people about a child or young person, for example parent, teacher, psychologist. Together in the initial consultation, they try to establish the current situation, the outcomes sought and success criteria, and agree actions to be carried out. Advice given should be practical, avoid jargon and be relevant to the situation and identified needs.

Assessment is a process which involves gathering information from a variety of sources in a range of settings over a period of time. It involves parents, carers, teachers, and the young person. The purpose of educational psychology assessment is to inform future intervention. It should take into account cognitive, emotional and social factors. The ultimate aim of effective educational psychology assessment is usually to limit the effects of barriers to learning and to promote the inclusion of the child or young person. Where the educational psychologist is involved directly in an assessment or intervention this would normally take place within a young person's normal environment, for example a home visit or an observation in school. We follow the British Psychological Society guidelines on assessment.

DEPS carries out training and development work with  different groups throughout the year. This includes training to groups of teachers, parents, and groups of children or young people.

The evidence on effectiveness of training strongly supports the notion that one-off presentations are insufficient in themselves to change practice.

On this basis, DEPS training programmes are often delivered jointly with key partners and planning with partners will focus on a process for meaningful outcomes that matches training at the following three levels:

• raise awareness for staff of a particular area
• develop a deeper understanding for skills and development
• support and sustain change within a context

Please contact the office should you wish to learn more about current training activities provided by DEPS.

Information for Educational Psychologists in Training

DEPS is committed to providing trainees with high quality learning experiences and we also recognise the contribution that trainees make to the continued development of the service.

Currently we offer long term placements for trainees from the Educational Psychology MSc courses. We consistently receive positive feedback from trainees who have undertaken placement with the service. We also encourage short placements and would invite interested trainee educational psychologists to contact the Depute Principal Psychologist to discuss opportunities.

Placements are planned around the development needs of trainees. Opportunities provided can range from shadowing to supervised service delivery to a school.

While on placement, trainees will be supervised by a lead practice tutor. In addition to regular supervision all educational psychologists in the Service contribute to providing a positive learning opportunity for trainees.

Research carried out by DEPS can be negotiated at the authority or school level, based on an identified need for investigation. Research seeks to answer questions of relevance to educational and other authority staff, which will benefit children and young people.

As well as exploring new ideas, research can help evaluate practice and procedures, provide evidence about what is working well, and inform policy. It also helps with the sharing of good practice.

So, what does an educational psychologist do? Our work is very variable, but to give you an idea, here is a sample of a week’s work. We hope you find this interesting.

• Attended team supervision with other EPs in the educational psychology service. This keeps our practice up to date and is a requirement for our registration with the HCPC
• Met with a parent, head teacher and class teacher as part of the Team Around the Child process to identify ways to support a child with selective mutism
• Telephone consultation with parents of a nursery school child who has autism and can find the busy environment overwhelming
• Meeting with a senior secondary school pupil to think of strategies to support them with ‘executive function’ (how to help them manage their workload and stay organised)
• Attended a ‘team around the family’ meeting with social work at a primary school. Having a meeting to look at the needs of the family as a whole helped to co-ordinate the support provided
• Attended a looked after child review for a young person who is care experienced. The EP role in meetings like this is to check the child’s educational needs are being well met and help identify and support any additional support needs
• Had a planning meeting with a Head Teacher, Depute Head Teacher and Principal Teacher of supporting learners to plan the strategic work and training I would be doing this year with all the school staff to support school improvement
• Delivered training to teachers to on differentiation (adapting the teaching to meet the needs of a range of learners) and how to develop pupil’s metacognition skills (important skills for learning)
• Met with a young person to do some ‘All About Me activities” to get to know them and find out what might help them at school
• Worked with school staff to help problem solve ways to support a young child with self-regulation and behaviour in school. EPs are specialists in child development • Had a telephone consultation with a guidance teacher in a secondary school to support a child from Dundee who is being looked after in another local authority. The EPs role in cases like this is to check the child’s educational needs are being well met and help identify and support any additional support needs
• Attended a school support team meeting within a secondary school where guidance teachers discussed the needs of a number of pupils. The role of the EP in this meeting is to be part of the school team which helps to decide how the needs of the pupils can best be met by school and what resources will be used.

• Concerned about literacy
• Practitioner Psychologists
• Applying nurture as a whole school approach: framework to support self-evaluation
• Getting it right for every child