Educational Psychology Service (EPS)

Educational psychologists (EPs) have training in psychology, child development, and research for application to the education system. All EPs have previous experience working in education, health, or social care settings.

The Educational Psychology Service helps children and young people to overcome learning, social and emotional problems.

We work with people aged 0 to 25 years, in schools, settings, and colleges either:

directly with a child or group of children; or
indirectly with parents, teachers, and other professionals

What educational Psychologists do

Use their skills in applying psychological knowledge, research, frameworks and approaches to help identify, assess, and resolve issues involving children and young people (0-25)
Use approaches that opt towards collaborative solutions, drawing on the resources of children and young people, their families, and communities
Recognise the importance of lived experiences and practiced based evidence, understanding that psychological research might not always be applicable to children facing a range of barriers to learning in school.
Aim to support joint problem-solving, remove barriers and facilitate change to support learning and inclusion for all.

EPs can help to identify needs and support intervention for those experiencing difficulties with literacy, maths, social communication, emotion regulation or attention. They do not follow a medical model of symptoms diagnosis and treatment, focusing instead on meeting an individual’s educational needs. EPs are not medically trained and cannot diagnose Autism or ADHD.

EPs may also provide or support schools in developing therapeutic support, including approaches such as Video Enhanced Reflective Practice, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Play-based therapy, and CBT. EPs may support children with their mental health by listening to their views and helping the adults around the child or young person to support them. However, they differ from mental health practitioners and therapists, who typically offer ongoing treatment for trauma or unresolved mental health needs.

Core activity

These activities are free to all schools and colleges:

Support and consultation meetings - two per year
Critical incident support.

Traded activity

We offer psychology-based work on an individual, group or organisational level. For information on our traded services, visit the Services to Schools Webshop.

Traded services can be used for:

Carrying out assessments, identifying strengths and educational needs and writing reports.
Delivering training to meet an agreed outcome, following a consultation. Training from Educational Psychology will involve the application of psychology-based knowledge, research, approaches or frameworks.
Working collaboratively to remove barriers and identify the best possible strategies that will support young people in their settings.
Teaching assistants can attend our annual six-day training course to become an accredited Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA). ELSAs support children when emotional or social difficulties first emerge.

Statutory work

In addition to working with link schools, EPs complete work commissioned on behalf of the local authority, in relation to Education, Health and Care needs assessments (EHCNAs). A request for a needs assessment is likely to happen when special educational provision currently being made for children by their setting from their own resources is not enabling the child or young person to make adequate progress (Code of Practice, 4.57). If an assessment is agreed, an EP will be allocated. Where possible, this would be an EP who knows the child or young person.

An EP will meet and listen to the child/YP, parent/carers and relevant professionals to ascertain views and aspirations. They will gather information and work with people to make sense of the situation. EPs have several innovative tools they can apply to do this, depending on the age and strengths and needs of the child/YP.

How we work

EP work is outcome focused where the purpose is to change something for the benefit of the child or young person. This may involve:

Consultation with parents, carers, professionals and children
Observation or more in-depth assessment

Systemic work can involve consultation, training or project work

Contact your link Educational Psychologist

Hastings 01424 726100
Eastbourne 01323 463636
Lewes 01273 336720

Any queries or concerns can be sent to eps@eastsussex.gov.uk

How to negotiate work with your EP

EPs often liaise with the SENCO as the initial point of contact within the school. Before meeting with the EP, the SENCo would:

meet key school staff to outline priorities for the year
consider the time that the school has been allocated for the year
reflect on the whole school strengths and action plans
consider whether the issue that needs work relates to wider issues facing more than one individual pupil.
consider the time they have available and decide how much time to use for consultation work, when to focus on systemic/wider issues and when to commission more in-depth direct work.