Educational Psychologists (EPs) work with children and young people from birth to 25 years old as well as with families, schools and other professionals.
Their goal is to help children and young people reach their potential in education and wider life.
We take requests for Educational Psychologist involvement from schools. If you think advice from an Educational Psychologist might be helpful, talk to your child or young person’s class teacher, key person or make an appointment to talk to the school or nursery’s Special Educational Needs Disabilities co-ordinator (SENDCo).
If Educational Psychology involvement is appropriate, a request for involvement will be made by school directly to Knowsley Educational Psychology Service.
Parent consent will always be obtained before any involvement takes place.
For further information, please watch the video below:
EPs can support in a variety of ways depending on the needs of the child. These can include;
Educational Psychologists will choose the best methods in direct response to your child’s presentation and needs.
They will compile the gathered information and use their psychological knowledge to create a shared understanding of your child’s needs and/or provide strategies and suggestions to support your child.
These can be communicated via a feedback meeting or a written report.
As part of an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHC), an Educational Psychologist will complete Psychological Advice to contribute to the assessment process.
For more information about the EHC process, please click here.
An EP will always gain written consent from parents/carers before becoming involved.
We value your knowledge and views as parents and carers and may meet with you as part of our involvement to gain further understanding of their history alongside their strengths, needs and any concerns you may have.
No, EPs do not give medical diagnoses or prescribe medication. They aim to provide a deeper understanding of your child’s needs and advice on how schools can support them.
You will likely be invited in to meet with the Educational Psychologist and share your views. You do not need to be present during any observations or direct work with your child. These most often take place in the school day.
As part of EP involvement, parents/carers will often be invited to attend a meeting with the EP, sometimes called a consultation. This helps us to gain further understanding of the child’s history alongside their strengths, needs and any concerns you may have. We value your knowledge and views as parents and carers and strongly recommend you attend these meetings.
You do not need to prepare anything; however, it can sometimes be helpful to consider what you would like to share ahead of time.
For more information on consultation, please click here.
Some children may feel uncertain, nervous or even resistant to working with an Educational Psychologist. This is completely ok. EPs are trained to work sensitively with children and young people of all ages and needs. They will take time to explain who they are, build rapport with your child and will adjust their approach as required.
An Educational Psychologist will never force your child to participate.
This is your choice as a parent and should be decided based on your knowledge of your child. Some children prefer not to know, and the EP may get more realistic information should they conduct an observation. Other children work better and maybe more open if they are prepared. If so, a simple explanation is likely to be best e.g.
“An Educational Psychologist may come into see you at school this week. They are interested in what school is like for you and want to help you feel good in school and learn.”
If necessary, reassure them that it is not a test and there is no right or wrong answer.
The EP will then explain their role further and what activities they may do together when they meet.
You can also access the EPs personal profile from our website to help your child feel more at ease.
We greatly value your views and experiences and would love to hear from you. Please click on the following link below to provide your comments.
We pride ourselves on providing high-quality reports, however, should you spot a mistake relating to key factual details relating to your child, please let us know and we would be happy to correct these.
The EP report will include a section for your views and any information you feel is important.
The psychological formulation represents the EP’s professional opinion based on the information available to them. You are welcome to discuss these with the EP or school, and your perspective can be recorded alongside the EPs advice.
If you still have questions after reading this page, please feel free to email us, and someone will respond within three working days.
“Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I know this is your job but it's evident that you care, and you go above and beyond and that means a lot to me.”
“You know you are the first person that has taken the time to really listen to me and ask how I feel. I felt really comfortable and able to tell you what I think. It has been lovely speaking with you. Thank you.”
“It feels like the first time that someone has captured and understood our beautiful little boy so that we can understand him.”
“We feel the EP report truly captures a rounded current view of his behaviours, personality and areas where his learning would benefit from further support in identifying his Special Educational Needs."