DR EMMA WOODWARDEDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST

BRIGHTON AND HOVE CITY COUNCIL

Educational Psychology

What is an Educational Psychologist?

Our main role is to remove the barriers to learning.

To do this we apply psychology to help the emotional development and educational progress of children and young people between the ages of 0-19.

Barriers to learning

Academic barriers – specific learning difficulties, learning difficulties/disabilities, access to appropriate educational provision.

Emotional barriers – attachment, anxiety, motivation.

Physical/Medical barriers – physical disability, epilepsy, autism.

Social barriers – aspirations, culture.

These are not mutually exclusive.

Applying psychology

There are varying psychological frameworks that we work to:-

Psychodynamic – Bion, Freud – looking at relationships and a persons’ sense of self – projection and transference.

Systemic – exploring a person’s concern in the context of their ‘system’- family, school etc..

Solution focused – supporting a person view their concern in terms of ways forward.

CBT – looking at the link between thoughts, feelings and behaviour.

Most EPs work using most of these frameworks interchangeably to form an holistic and responsive approach.

What do Educational Psychologists do? 

Educational psychologists tackle the problems encountered by young people in education, which may involve learning difficulties and social or emotional problems.

We carry out a wide range of tasks with the aim of enhancing children's learning and enabling teachers to become more aware of the factors affecting teaching and learning.

We support parents/carers understand child development to enable them to support their child.

We sometimes write reports about children for allocation of special educational places, or as part of court proceedings or children's panels.

Some Educational Psychologists have areas of special interest (Children in Care, ASC etc..)

We work at three levels:-

Organisational levelSupporting the strategic development of school education policies to

support inclusionChampioning the voice of the child in the wider organisation

Group levelRunning groups for childrenTraining for parents/teaching staff

Individual levelChildren, parents, teachers

We do this using:-

Research - To explore wider issues and implement change Consultation – around a problem to enable the problem holder to come up

with their own solution. Training – to raise awareness of effective ways in working with children and

families. Observations – of a child, teacher or family ‘in action’. Individual assessment – assessment of a child’s abilities. Statutory work and tribunals – to assess a child’s learning and emotional

needs so that an appropriate educational provision can be put into place. Chair and attend meetings - with parents/carers, schools, other

professionals to discuss, review and monitor progress around a concern. Supervision- providing supervision and undertaking supervision with our

managers and peers to ensure we remain neutral and reflective about a concern. It is easy to get caught up in an issue!

No matter how we go about it our main role is to develop and test hypothesis about the concern using our psychological knowledge.

We don’t always need to see the child, it is most helpful to help those working with the child to solve their own problems as they have the lasting relationship with the child.

How we work:-

We each are allocated a ‘patch’ of schools (based on area and including early years, primary, secondary and special).

We also make links with local community groups and children’s centres.

We work closely with other professionals, including – education, health, and social care.

We work in an integrated manner meaning that we apply psychology in every encounter to ensure the adults around the child work as effectively as possible.

Some local authorities have now adopted a traded services model. This means that schools receive a statutory for free but have to pay for any other type of EP service. This creates a ‘free and open market’ for additional services.

A typical week.....

Never the same!

AM PM

Monday Observing Yr 6 class to support whole class teaching strategies

Running a drop in for parents

Tuesday Supporting pastoral staff at a secondary school develop student engagement

1:1 session with Yr 5 teacher on supporting children with attachment difficulties

Wednesday Running a focus group with pupils at risk of exclusion for a piece action research using appreciative inquiry

Giving a presentation at Sussex University

Thursday Meeting with a social worker Admin

Friday Attending a Team around the Child meeting for a child with complex epilepsy.

Home visit for a family with a child with ASC, whom I have been working with for the past two years.

How to become an Educational Psychologist

To become an Educational Psychologist you need to have an undergraduate degree in psychology and then complete a three year Doctorate in Educational Psychology.

It is preferred that applicants have a 2.1 or above in a first psychology-based degree that grants them eligibility for Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR) with the British Psychological Society (BPS)

You will also need at least two years relevant experience of working with children and young people. This can include roles such as assistant educational psychologist, teacher, classroom or learning assistant, SEN co-ordinator or research activity with children and young people. Other relevant experience is also considered

The important bit!

The pay for an EP is in accordance with the Soulbury pay scale (currently):-

1 £33,934 2 £35,656 3 £37,378 4 £39,100 5 £40,822 6 £42,544 7 £44,165 8 £45,786 9 ** £47,305 10 ** £48,825 11 ** £50,243

Over to you!

Any questions or thoughts?

For further information please see:-http://bit.ly/edupsychhttp://www.bps.org.uk/