Educational Psychology

How Educational Psychologists work with children…

Educational Psychologists (EPs) have had experience working with children or young people and have also had additional training and experience in how children and young people learn and develop.

EPs work closely with teachers and parents to help children who are having difficulties with:

• Learning and general development, including reading, writing, spelling and numbers
• Emotions and behaviour
• Making relationships with other children and adults

Our aim is to bring about a positive change for the children or young people to help them make better progress.

Educational Psychologists usually assess children and young people in pre-school or school. They do this in a number of ways, which may include:

• Discussions with parents, teachers and others who know them well
• Observation of the child in their classroom or at play
• Interviewing the child about their learning and the difficulties they are having
• Reviewing the work they have done in class
• Testing to check on the child’s skills and/or intellectual development
• Reviewing how the child has responded to what has been recommended
• Consultation with other agencies such as Paediatricians and Speech Therapists

Educational Psychologists offer teachers and, in some cases, parents suggestions about how they can help their child’s development and learning. The advice that they offer to teachers is usually to suggest ways to improve a child’s learning or behaviour and ways to help children with learning difficulties to cope with their work in class.

School is the best place to discuss whether your child may have special educational needs. The staff will explain the procedure and what action, if necessary, is being taken to help your child. The Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) will explain what happens at the various stages of the SEN procedures.

Related Documents

Torbay Educational Psychology Service A guide for parents and carers on the services available to children who have problems with their development and learning. Last updated: 19/09/2008 (192 KB)

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