Educational Psychology for Schools

Firefly Educational Psychology service is chiefly manned by me, Kait, although I am part of a network of like-minded EPs who can and do work together, especially around training. Sometimes we help each other with SLAs if we don’t have capacity individually, or if we feel a particular young person would benefit from working with one of us with a certain specialism. This would always be discussed with you in advance of any work taking place. I feel strongly about the power of collaboration and always enjoy working with other professionals, so I’ll happily work alongside other professionals involved with the young person.  

A very good question! EPs are generally quite eclectic and I’m no exception. I offer a variety of standardised and non-standardised assessment tools and approaches, including cognitive assessment using WISC-V and Raven’s 2, more specific neurocognitive testing using the NEPSY-II, dynamic or play-based assessment, therapeutic assessment using the CRRES framework, attainment testing using the WIAT-III, DASH and PhAB, and social and emotional assessment tools including Resiliency Scales and DESSA. I also use a lot of projective and person-centred techniques, and observation. This is not an exhaustive list, and because no two young people are the same, no two assessments are the same – that’s what makes it a hard question to answer. I will, however, always shape an assessment to the needs of the young person and be responsive to what comes out of our session together. To decide which tools to bring, I will always discuss the young person with you before I begin. 

The short answer is yes. A report from Firefly Educational Psychology will help to identify a young person’s needs, which is an essential part of a good EHCP application. It will also provide recommendations that the school can work on implementing and reviewing, which is another important part of the EHCP application process. If we know that a school wants to apply for an EHCP for a young person, we can offer a term of support for a young person that includes an initial consultation, direct involvement from an EP, a feedback and planning meeting, and a review. We find this gives schools the opportunity to trial suggestions within a supportive environment, evaluate their impact and plan for next steps. This package has the added benefit of being a complete cycle of plan-do-review, which is often important when submitting an EHCP application.

Firefly’s work with schools is often pretty similar to the work of a local authority EP. We all have the same training and abide by the same code of ethics in our work. We both do work at the pre- and post-EHCP stages. Where we differ is around statutory work (by statutory work, I mean the report that is written to inform the local authority’s decision-making around EHCPs). Statutory work is commissioned by the local authority and generally carried out by the local authority’s designated Educational Psychology Service. This means that Firefly does not write the statutory Educational Psychology report for an EHCP, although our work can and does support the initial application and is often used to support the statutory work of the local authority EP. Ultimately though, the statutory report is the legal responsibility of the local authority’s designated Educational Psychology Service. We are, however, very friendly and will always share our thoughts and findings with the local authority EP if asked.

To provide a quality service to our schools, we need to plan, and SLAs help us plan our time more efficiently. An SLA is an agreement to work together over time, ideally over an academic year, although things don’t have to be spread evenly across terms. An SLA can be either very small or quite large, and can encompass several schools through a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT). A qualifying SLA is one where the full SLA amounts to £3,000 or more. This means we can bring our unit prices down by 20%, which we hope will make review sessions more accessible and our work more impactful. With a qualifying service level agreement, you gain access to our extended school offer and we will offer you an hour’s free planning meeting and notes for every £3,000 commissioned (so a £6,000 contract would lead to a free two-hour planning meeting in Term 1, or two one-hour planning meetings across the academic year). For MAT, an initial planning meeting with all SENCos will be included at no extra cost. Where individual schools within the MAT require work with more than one child, a separate planning meeting will be required. This will be charged for at £100 per one-hour meeting. Transparency of pricing is important. I will always update you if the needs of the casework change (i.e. become more or less expensive). If further work is required or requested, a new quote/Service Level Agreement will be generated and agreed before work begins. Add-on work is typically charged at a rate of £80 per hour, with additional consumables related to assessment tools typically costing between £10 and £20, depending on the specific nature of what has been requested.

No, not necessarily. I can see the child wherever it works best for them. If the issues are in school or are affecting their ability to access learning, I find it is usually helpful for me to come into school, even if they are not there, just so I can support recommendations and talk to key staff.

Like most people over the past few years, I have had to get a lot better at this! So, yes, I can. That said, wherever possible I would always prefer to meet a young person and the adults around them in person.

Yes. Over the past few years this has become increasingly common. I use Microsoft Teams and find that Teams calls work well in a number of situations. I am aware, however, that this isn’t always the case, and there can be an access issue for parents. The format of meetings will be discussed with you when negotiating the work.

Yes, sometimes. I would always decide this on a range of factors, including where your setting is and the size of the SLA (which would determine how often I would be travelling to you). The best thing to do is get in touch with me, and we’ll see what we can work out.