Education Resources Psychological Service

The Psychological Service is dedicated to delivering a service that maximises impact and ensures equity across learning communities, localities, and the wider local authority. Psychologists work across learning communities, delivering a service based on priority and need.

This enables us to deliver all core functions (assessment, consultation, intervention, research, and training/professional development) in the most effective and efficient way, and to target our direct support at the children and young people with the greatest need within a learning community.

We continue to provide a named link psychologist for every establishment (including ASN bases/units and Early Learning and Childcare establishments). In most cases, termly planning meetings will be offered by link psychologists to establishments for discussing individual/families and more systemic issues, whilst ensuring we can respond quickly when priorities suddenly change in a learning community/locality.

Casework consultation model

The casework consultation model supports link psychologists and school staff to jointly identify needs and priorities, whilst maximising the impact, efficiency and sustainability of input offered. 

The level of appropriate involvement of the link psychologist will be established collaboratively by considering the assessment of need (following the GIRFEC National Practice Model) and the level of intervention that has been evidenced, following staged intervention. The level of need will be considered highest where a child’s attainment/achievement, wellbeing/mental health and/or school placement is at risk. The question of whether direct psychologist intervention will improve outcomes for the child will be central in the decision-making process.

Casework consultation process

When schools and nurseries are requesting additional support from the Psychological Service, they will ask for parents’/carers’ agreement to have a consultation with an educational psychologist (called a Level 1 consultation). This meeting involves only school/nursery staff and the educational psychologist.

The outcome of the Level 1 consultation will be one of the following:

• The offer of indirect involvement. Sometimes indirect work by the psychologist is the best way to support your child/young person (for example consultation, advice or training for staff). Other strategies to support your child/young person may also be agreed and reviewed by the school.
• A Level 2 consultation meeting may be arranged, which will involve you, staff from the school or nursery and the educational psychologist (and if appropriate your child/young person). In line with partnership working and Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC), other professionals may also attend this meeting. At this meeting further involvement of the educational psychologist might be agreed.
• No further involvement from the educational psychologist at that time. In this case, additional appropriate strategies to support your child will be agreed and reviewed by the school or nursery.

What will happen if a Level 2 consultation meeting is agreed?

The headteacher will be in touch to arrange this. If further direct involvement with your child/young person is agreed at this meeting, it will most likely be to carry out a specific short piece of work.

Any involvement of the Psychological Service will be reviewed on a regular basis, in line with your child’s progress.

When the agreed work has been completed, your child’s Psychological Service casefile will be closed.

Assessment policy

The Psychological Service has recently updated its assessment policy. The policy has been updated to reflect national and local policies about how best to meet the additional support needs of children and young people. In addition, the policy also reflects current evidence about quality and ethical psychological assessment practice nationally.

We have rooted our assessment policy in our values. We are child centred, evidence based and collaborative. So, we gather information from a range of sources but always include parents and carers, the child or young person when they are able join in, schools, other agencies. We also try to look at all the factors that help a child or young person to be resilient in school and to learn, and what barriers there might be that need to be supported and worked round.

The main purpose of our assessment is to empower children and young people, and those who support them, to help themselves. On occasion, assessment also aim to support decision making about school placement.

Before the educational psychologist gets involved with a child or young person in any way, the service always has informed agreement from parents and carers and, where they can give consent . There will always be a reason for assessment that is clear and shared with all those concerned: the child or young person, parents and carers, teachers, and other agencies, if they are involved. Any assessment needs to be linked to a follow up – the service won’t just “do” assessment for the sake of it. Our assessments also will be reported to those involved, although not always in written form. Where possible, the service will try to avoid assessments that are too intrusive, and often we gather effective information from a range of sources.

Your educational psychologist will explain what they are doing and why they are doing it, but bear in mind, assessment is something we will do with you and your child, it is not something we do to you and your child. We share and explain any outcomes and, together, we plan next steps with our teaching colleagues about how best to support your child’s additional support needs.

Principles of assessment

The Psychological Service conducts assessments in line with the twelve principles below. 

1. There should always be a clear rationale for assessment.
2. Assessments will be informed by current psychological theories and models of child development.
3. Prior to assessment, agreement must always be obtained from parent(s)/carer(s), and wherever possible, the child or young person themselves.
4. Assessment is a collaborative process. It is conducted in partnership with the child or young person, their parent(s)/carer(s) and those who are working with and supporting the child or young person.
5. The views and participation of children/young people should be core features of the assessment process and this should be facilitated in the most appropriate way. 
6. An ecological approach to assessment is taken, therefore, all contexts are considered. 
7. Assessment is linked to other educational psychologist functions and should inform intervention. It is built on and informs the ongoing cycle of assessment, planning, intervention and review carried out collaboratively with schools, parent(s)/carer(s), children and young people and other professionals. It occurs over time. It is negotiated within a staged intervention framework, incorporating multi-agency involvement as required.
8. The assessment approaches used should be the least intrusive but most effective in achieving positive outcomes for children and young people.
9. The assessment process should empower the child or young person to learn and develop. It should identify and build upon the strengths of the child or young person and the people and contexts around them.
10. Assessment outcomes should be reported accurately and clearly, in a way that is suitable for the audience and directly relevant to the purpose of the assessment. Wherever possible, assessment outcomes should be shared in an appropriate way with the child or young person. A written report need not be provided for every assessment process as this contribution will in most situations be reflected in school and multi-agency record keeping. Reporting will always respect confidentiality and comply with data protection legislation.
11. Assessment practices are based on an understanding of current methodologies and research and are informed by continuing professional development.
12. Assessment practices will conform to the British Psychological Society Code of Ethics and Conduct (2018) and the Health and Care Professions Council’s The Standards of Proficiency for Practitioner Psychologists (2015). They will also be in line with our aims and values.