The Educational Psychology Service is a team of qualified Educational Psychologists (EPs).
We work with pupils aged 0 to 19 and use our knowledge of psychology to bring about positive change.
Each school has a named Educational Psychologist with an allocated amount of time. We work closely with staff in schools, especially the Additional Learning Needs Coordinator (ALNCo).
What we do
The work we do is typically planned with the ALNCo at the start of an academic year. At the planning meeting, the ALNCo and the EP will consider what support is needed at a whole school, class and individual level.
Our work is best described at 3 levels:
Indirect work (Level 1)
Our indirect work aims to have an impact across a whole school or cluster. A cluster is a group of schools that feed into a high school.
Some of our activities include:
- staff supervision and training,
- problem solving discussions,
- multidisciplinary forums, and
- cluster support meetings.
We offer training to school staff which can be booked through the Cardiff Education Services website.
Consultation (Level 2)
Consultation is a collaborative problem-solving approach focused on bringing about positive change. We will not carry out consultations focused on individuals without parental consent. The consultations should involve the adults most concerned. For example, class teacher and parents.
During the process, we may need to find out more information. This may involve direct work from an EP with a pupil, group, class, parent or member of staff.
We will regularly review progress.
Psychological advice (Level 3)
This involves the EP exploring a young person's strengths and needs in all areas of development. We will provide a full description of their needs and of the provision needed.
Critical incident support
A small subgroup of EPs in the team provide support to schools in the event of a critical incident.
We have created a guide that outlines approaches that are helpful in the event of a critical incident. All schools have a copy of the guide.
Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs)
ELSAs support the emotional wellbeing of children and young people. This intervention is educational psychology led.
Teaching assistants can access ELSA training to develop and deliver individualised programmes to support the emotional needs of children and young people.
We contribute to ELSA training as part of the Central South Consortium, alongside EPs from Merthyr, Rhondda Cynnon Taf, the Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend.
Training is delivered on a termly basis and can be booked by email: [email protected].
Trained ELSAs get regular group supervision from members of the EP service. Attending supervision is a requirement of practicing as an ELSA in a school.
Getting support
To ask for involvement from an EP, please speak to the ALNCo at your child's school.
You and the school will need to complete a consultation request form. This must be signed to make sure there is consent for work to be undertaken.
