Planning educational psychology time
To reduce travel time it is worth planning your Educational Psychology (EP) visit efficiently for a morning or afternoon session e.g. two staff consultations and Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) feedback meeting within one session, rather than multiple visits for each strand of EP involvement. EP administrative time can include preparation, record of involvement writing, and scoring/interpreting assessments.
EPs will typically need the same amount of time for administration as direct involvement, e.g., a 1-hour review meeting followed by 1-hour of time for record of involvement writing although this should be discussed with your EP prior to commencing a piece of work.
When supporting children and young people (CYP), EPs may be involved either directly or indirectly with them to help develop a holistic understanding of their needs. There are four levels of EP involvement for casework outlined below:
| Level | Details |
|---|---|
| Level 1 - Consultation, Record and Review |
Problem solving discussion and written action plan with key school staff and parent/carers. Follow up review meeting and review record. Examples: Consultation, CBC ‘Lite’ or EBSA ‘Lite’. One day will be the minimum amount spent on a piece of EP casework. |
| Level 2 - Consultation, Observation, Feedback, Record and Review |
Time spent on observation and record length to be agreed in negotiation with link EP. 1.5 days minimum |
| Level 3 - Consultation, Observation, Assessment, Feedback, Report & Review |
Individual work may include gathering pupil voice, dynamic or standardised assessment. Time spent on individual work to be agreed in negotiation with link EP Two days minimum |
| Level 4 - Consultation, Observation, Assessment, Feedback, Report, Facilitated Intervention & Review |
The EP may support the delivery of intervention work e.g. modelling a therapeutic intervention. Time spent to be agreed in negotiation with link EP |
EP involvement typically follows schools/colleges implementing quality first provision as part of their graduated response to SENDs. Together with school staff and parents/carers, the EP will consider current understanding of needs and additional support already in place for the young person to then collaboratively plan targeted support. All individual casework is negotiated with the EP and SENCo and delivered according to an ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ model of service delivery.
As a guide, this means that a purchased individual consultation and review is 1 day equivalent to include:
- An initial consultation discussion lasting 45-60 minutes.
- Joint review meeting conducted at an agreed date to review the outcomes of the interventions put in place.
- EP record of consultation and record of review meeting
