EPS: Information for schools - Print version

Your local psychology service

The Educational Psychology Service is a team of educational psychologists who work with schools and parents/carers to promote the educational, personal and social development of children and young people. We have the flexibility to work with individuals, with groups and across the wider school community. And, because all our work is delivered by experienced, HPC-registered Psychologists, you can be assured of its quality.

Reasons to choose Coventry EPS

• We are the largest psychology service in Coventry, with over 100 years' combined practical experience in improving outcomes for Coventry children.
• Our new model of service delivery allows us to respond flexibly to your needs.
• We are the only psychology service with direct and established links to services in Education, Health and Social Care across Coventry. This means that you benefit from an effective and co-ordinated approach.
• Psychology is at the core of what we do, so we can provide a skill set to complement and extend that of your school.
• Our team of HCPC-registered Psychologists has excellent knowledge and expertise in child and educational psychology. We apply research to make sure that our practice remains at the cutting edge and we are regularly invited to speak at universities and conferences across the country.
• Our commitment to nurturing trainee educational psychologists on doctoral programmes ensures that we are continually renewed with fresh ideas and skills.

How we work

We believe we achieve best outcomes for children by listening and responding to your needs. This is why we work consultatively. Your psychologist will work with you to:

• Develop a shared understanding of a problem or concern.
• Agree feasible support plans, tailored to your setting.
• Generate an instant written support plan. (So there's no need to wait for a report).
• Secure commitment from children, parents and teachers, so that plans are put into practice.
• Review support plans and monitor their effectiveness.
• Provide informal support when needed (including over the telephone and through email).

Through this joint, solution-finding process, we make sure that success is generalised by teaching staff, parents and the wider school community.

How we can help you

We have the flexibility to work with individuals, with groups and across the wider school community. And, because all our work is delivered by experienced, HCPC-registered Psychologists, you can be assured of its quality.

Our portfolio of services includes: assessment [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/223/educational_psychology_and_primary_mental_health_service/1705/educational_psychology_-_services_to_schools/2], intervention [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/223/educational_psychology_and_primary_mental_health_service/1705/educational_psychology_-_services_to_schools/3], training [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/223/educational_psychology_and_primary_mental_health_service/1705/educational_psychology_-_services_to_schools/4], research [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/223/educational_psychology_and_primary_mental_health_service/1705/educational_psychology_-_services_to_schools/5], community working [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/223/educational_psychology_and_primary_mental_health_service/1705/educational_psychology_-_services_to_schools/6], innovation [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/223/educational_psychology_and_primary_mental_health_service/1705/educational_psychology_-_services_to_schools/7], and support during challenging times [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/223/educational_psychology_and_primary_mental_health_service/1705/educational_psychology_-_services_to_schools/8]. 

Assessment

Your existing knowledge of a child is our starting point. Your psychologist will provide a tailored package of assessment to address your concerns and further your understanding.

We offer a range of psychological assessment, from a general analysis of cognitive ability, through therapeutic assessment of social and emotional functioning, to specialised and focussed assessments of core skills such as working memory and mathematical functioning.

We make sure that our assessment data is presented clearly, and we combine it with the views of parents and teachers to give a psychological formulation of a child's current situation. Your psychologist will help you to link this formulation to practical and effective intervention.

Interventions

Working with your psychologist will help to identify your strengths or areas of need that you would like to develop. This may be at the individual child level, with groups of children or staff, or at the whole school level.

Below are some examples of the areas that interventions may be targeted towards:

Individual and Group Level

• Literacy and numeracy 
• Behaviour
• Emotional well-being
• Self-esteem
• Relationships and friendships
• Attention and concentration
• Memory
• Sensory needs
• Motor development
• Therapeutic work
• Curriculum access

Further information about the range of group interventions that Coventry EPS can offer for the children and young people in your setting [/downloads/download/2647/inclusive_group_work].

Further information about the range of therapeutic interventions offered by Coventry EPS [/downloads/download/2650/supporting_therapeutically].

School Level

• Staff training
• Systemic and policy support
• School development
• Environmental audit
• Provision mapping
• Critical Incident support

Training

We are well placed to offer and support training linking research and psychology theory with practice. We offer bespoke and centralised training specifically tailored to your need to develop and empower staff to raise parental and pupil aspirations, further develop evidence-based learning strategies, enhanced communication skills, support emotional health and well-being, improve behaviour and attendance and support times of transition and transfer. In addition, our staff regularly contribute to conference planning and delivery.

We will evaluate outcomes of the training and will support staff in making the most of it.

Further information about the range of Attachment Theory training packages that are available for delivery in your setting [/downloads/download/2646/building_attachment].

Further information about training options targeting staff development [/downloads/download/2649/support_for_school_staff].

Research

We all want best outcomes for children. Yet knowing how best to achieve these can prove a challenge. Research evidence can help inform your choices in the decisions that matter.

Your psychologist is part of a team with extensive research experience up to doctoral level. A team which can design a research project to make sure that the changes you make in your school have the greatest possible impact.

Examples of the research and development work that Coventry EPS can help you to implement and embed within your setting [/downloads/download/2648/support_for_school_development].

Community working

The child's world does not start and stop at the school gate, which is why we recognise the importance of working in the wider community as well as in schools.

If the child has a special educational needs, it is probable that a member of our team will have worked with them already in their early years. They will help you to support the child's transition and to plan and evaluate code to end. Interventions to meet their needs.

Our service is also open to parents. We provide telephone support and offer drop-ins organised in partnership with your school.

Innovation

For over 50 years, we have worked collaboratively with Coventry Schools to develop practice and interventions. We are always looking for ambitions and ideas to help turn into cutting edge programmes.

This unique aspect of our work, undertaken over an extended period of time is possible because of the varied experience in our large team and our ability to work flexibly.

Examples of the sort of work we can offer include:

• F I TOS - 'Fostering inclusion through circles of strength' is a whole class intervention aimed at increasing pupils' empathy towards children with special educational needs by raising their own awareness of a range of difficulties as well as strengths both in themselves and others
• Provision management - a whole school approach to interventions that are quote additional to and "different from the teaching appropriate for most children and young people. It supports progress-monitoring, points out over and under provision and is an effective budget - management tool.

Support during challenging times

We provide support to management, for example when there is a critical incident, tribunal, preparation for an OFSTED inspection or a specific issue raised by school management. By drawing on our knowledge of legislation and policy and our historical relationship with your school, we can help senior management in these challenging times.

Further information about how Coventry EPS can help support your setting through challenging times [/downloads/download/2649/support_for_school_staff].