SERVICE POSITION STATEMENT

We recognise that many Local Authority Educational Psychology Services across England are experiencing challenges due to the high level of Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) assessments currently being requested. As an independent educational psychology service spanning from Liverpool to Hull, and Teesside to Rotherham, we are aware of many local authorities that are seeking to utilise Applied Psychologies to support statutory functions in various ways. As a team, we have considered our roles within the EHCP system and the many implications of becoming part of the statutory process either explicitly or otherwise. 

 

This statement therefore sets out our position as an independent educational psychology service and why it is our intention to continue to work preventatively, for the needs of school systems, school staff and the many children, young people and families who benefit from such a service. In doing so, we acknowledge the ethical dilemmas presented by the proposition to be directly part of the statutory process, as well as the excellent work done by many local authorities, especially given the difficult situation the educational psychology profession is in with regards to recruitment and retention. We have always aimed to be part of the solution, and after twelve years of trading with 200+ schools, our team believe that the value we bring to the preventative stage of educational psychology support should not be compromised. The following sets out who we are, how we work, and how we support schools, including the EHCP process.

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Who we are

 

Applied Psychologies is an educational psychology service with a strong reputation of building positive relationships with schools and educational settings to meet the needs of children and young people, their families and teaching staff. Originally established in 2012, in 2022 we became an employee-owned company. This has strengthened the resiliency of our service and provides all our team with a voice in our strategic vision.

 

Our team comprises of educational psychologists (EPs), trainee and assistant EPs, advisory teachers for communication and interaction, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, therapists and business and administration professionals. We currently provide a blend of in-school and on-line support to educational settings across the North of England. Our work is commissioned by schools and educational settings who can choose to enter either a one-year or two-year, service level agreement.

 

How we work with schools and educational settings

 

When schools and educational settings commission Applied Psychologies, they enter a working relationship with a service which is committed to working preventatively with members of the school community to bring about positive outcomes for children and young people. We allocate our EPs and advisory teachers directly with schools so that we can understand the strengths, needs and aspirations of the setting, which helps us to provide educational psychology and/or specialist support where it is needed the most.   

 

The nature of our involvement is typically discussed and agreed at termly planning meetings. These meetings provide an excellent opportunity for Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCos) within a school or educational setting and their EP to:

 

• develop an understanding of each other’s strengths and how best to work together.

• create a shared understanding of the emerging themes within the setting.

• reflect on what we need to keep, start and stop doing and where we have previously been successful.

• prioritise new work, agree the nature of our involvement and the hours of time needing to be allocated to each activity.

 

The nature of support that Applied Psychologies provides can be viewed at three levels:

 

• The individual level – understanding and supporting the needs of individual children.

• The group level – supporting groups of children with similar needs; working with families; whole class interventions; working with groups of teaching staff.

• The systemic level – meeting the training, supervision and CPD needs of staff within an organisation; consulting with leaders on whole school policies and practices.  

 

Our approach to supporting at the individual level

 

Applied Psychologies aims to adopt a consultation-based approach to support those who can bring about the biggest change in supporting the needs of children and young people. Consultation is an evidence-based method of assessment used by EPs to help develop a shared understanding of a child’s strengths and needs, to agree goals and outcomes, and to identify steps and strategies to achieve those goals.

 

Consultation has been defined by our team members as being:

 

• a collaborative conversation to explore a situation and ways forward together.

• an approach used to view a child’s situation differently.

• a way to identify what change can be brought about and to strengthen the resiliency to maintain change.

• an approach to empower consultees to try something new.

• time and space for key people to reflect on an issue, with EPs use of listening and questioning skills helping them to see what next steps to take.

 

Following a consultation, if it is agreed that further information is needed to better understand a child’s strengths and areas of need, then an assessment may take place. Assessment can take many forms and may include the EP consulting with parents or carers, carrying out observations of the child in different contexts, and/or individual work with a child to gain their views or to assess specific skills. This would typically lead to an ‘outcomes’ or ‘next steps’ meeting where information gathered is shared, with outcomes and strategies agreed collaboratively, which would then be reviewed at an agreed time in the future. This assess-plan-do-review approach helps to support schools and educational setting to implement their graduated approach of meeting a child’s needs. 

 

Purpose of written records

 

Where Applied Psychologies agree to provide a written record of involvement, the purpose in most instances will be to present a summary of strengths, needs and collaboratively agreed outcomes and next steps. In each case it will be uniquely tailored by the EP or specialist to reflect the context and specific focus of the involvement. As an independent service, our EPs do not provide statutory advice because sourcing this is a legal responsibility of the Local Authority. Our written record is provided on Applied Psychologies headed paper and it should not be used as a substitute for statutory advice. Our records aim to reflect what is pertinent and needed right now, whereas an EHCP should be capturing all the needs that affect a child over the longer term. We do however promote collaboration with EPs who undertake statutory assessments for children who are known to our service, to support their information gathering. 

 

Benefits of working preventatively

 

By adopting a consultation approach to service delivery, it is our collective view that schools and educational settings can benefit in the following ways:

 

• Greater opportunity to engage in solution-orientated discussions to enhance the learning for all children.

• Having empowered staff who have space and time to reflect, and make decisions about their own practices, supporting the movement away from ‘within-child’ problems to more solution-orientated and eco-systemic thinking.

• The relationship building that comes from consultation helps to make any further assessment work more productive as there will likely be more ‘buy in’ from the teaching staff already involved, who will feel valued and listened to. 

• Provides a greater overview of need across the school or educational setting, creating meaningful CPD opportunities for teachers and classroom staff.

• Gives helpful direction about those children who may need more thorough assessment and when to signpost families to other services.

• Schools get the best out of Applied Psychologies, by solving situations collaboratively.

 

We welcome conversation, debate and feedback on our position and would be happy to talk with and build relationships with any of the local authorities in which we operate. 

 

For further information about Applied Psychologies and the support that we provide schools and educational settings, please contact Amy Robson (Director of Business) or Dr David Lamb (Principal Educational Psychologist) on 01482 643485 or via email at info@appliedpsychologies.com