We offer support for children who are experiencing barriers to their learning and participation in school and other activities. We also offer Parent Consultations to support parents and discuss their concerns.
What is educational psychology?
Educational Psychology helps children or young people who are experiencing problems that affect their successful learning and participation in school and other activities. These problems can include a range of emotional and social difficulties or learning difficulties.
An Educational Psychologist will work in a variety of ways. This includes observations, interviews and assessments of the child, as well as consultations to with parents or teachers to support them. They offer a range of appropriate interventions, such as learning programmes and collaborative work with teachers or parents.
Educational Psychologists have training in child development and how children learn, including those with special educational needs. They also have knowledge of the education system and how the education environment can impact on a child’s learning.
Children can experience difficulties for a number of reasons, including in relation to:
Educational psychologist can also complete assessments for exam access arrangements.
Educational Psychology at Therapy4Kids
Our Educational Psychologists adopt a holistic and problem-solving approach to each child’s case, and can assess and support them in a number of ways. These may include:
- Discussing the child and the concerns with their parents/carers and teachers
- Observing the child in their classroom, playground or at home
- Reviewing the work the child has been doing at school
- Speaking to or playing with the child
- Using standardised tests, to check the development of the child’s thinking and learning skills and gain an insight into strengths and relative difficulties
Intervention by an Educational Psychologist is carried out for a range of purposes, including:
- To help identify, understand and support learning, developmental and behavioural differences and difficulties
- To offer parents and teachers suggestions and guidance about how they can support the child and their progress
- To recommend necessary adjustments to the curriculum or to the child’s learning environment
- To help monitor progress over time
Consultations with our Educational Psychologist
Educational Psychology consultations centre around joint problem solving. They are a great way to discuss your concerns, answer your questions and reassure parents who may be having struggles supporting their children academically, emotionally and behaviourally – we can help you understand your child’s needs and give you tools to support them more.
We can also offer you support with your own experiences and well-being as parents and discuss helpful ways to manage these.
Following Educational Psychology consultations, we will also agree on any next steps that can be taken to address your concerns. This may include actions such as:
- Introducing strategies or adaptations at home
- Sharing strategies or adaptations with your child’s school
- Planning a consultation with school staff
- Planning for an assessment by another professional/making a referral
- Agreeing to monitor the concern and to review progress after a set period of time
- Seeking further information e.g. from the school
Following assessments or consultations, a detailed report can be provided on request. This would be based on observations of your child’s strengths and difficulties, and will also include recommendations and suggested strategies for supporting your child. This report can be shared with your child’s school and it is also possible to arrange a feedback or action-planning meeting at the school, bringing together the parents/carers, teaching staff and the educational psychologist. The educational psychologist may sometimes suggest further assessments by a professional with different expertise, such as a speech and language therapist, occupational therapist, paediatrician or clinical psychologist.
To book an assessment or find out further information, please do not hesitate to get in touch.