Educational Psychology Service

Educational Psychologists work in many different settings and in many different ways.  Much of their work is with schools, but the focus is always children (aged 0-19 years) and their families. 

They sometimes work individually with children and groups and always aim to facilitate and enhance the work of the adults and carers who support them. 

They carry out a wide range of tasks with the aim of enabling children to achieve through early intervention, enhancing children’s learning and developing strong and positive attitudes and relationships. 

Typical work activities would include: 

  • Consulting, coaching, negotiating, advising and supporting teachers, parents and other professionals.
  • Observing children in the contexts in which they play and learn.
  • Assessing young people’s learning and emotional needs by working directly with them and consulting others who are close to them.
  • Developing and supporting programmes and direct interventions to improve behaviour and learning.  Reviewing and modifying these programmes as information is shared.
  • Designing and developing training opportunities for parents, teachers and others involved in the education of children and young people.
  • Writing recommendations on action to be taken and contributing professional advice.
  • Attending conferences and meetings involving multi-disciplinary teams on how best to meet the social, emotional, behavioural and learning needs of the children and young people in their care.
  • Promoting an understanding of the context and environment which influence a child’s learning and well-being.
  • Liaising with other professionals, facilitating meetings, focused discussions and training.
  • Conducting action research and projects to support organisations and systems who interface with children and young people.

Educational Psychologists offer an approach based on negotiated targets and goals with a solution-focused orientation.  Schools have access to a named contact EP who provides the mechanism to accessing the support of a District cluster of EPs with a range of experiences and specialist knowledge.  Each school has some protected time but can also access additional time through the District to supplement more project-centred work. 

Younger children aged 0-5 years have access to EPs through the 1st4Families Service.  When a request for involvement is made of the team, a named EP becomes involved and work with the family to support their child.  They are also involved in transitions to settings and providing advice and support to a range of other professionals. 

All maintained schools in Wirral have a named Educational Psychologist as key contact.  The named EP attends the multi-disciplinary contact meetings in the school.  This meeting provides the key starting point for engagement with the service which then operates through a cycle of ‘Plan – Do – Review’, with respect to both individual pupil focused approaches and school development work.

Contact/enquiries can be made to:

Yvonne Le Lorrain, Head of Service (Sylvia Rossall, Admin)
Catherine O’Connor, Senior Eduational Psychologist
Angela Walker, Senior Educational Psychologist