Educational psychology: advice for parents

If your child attends a Wandsworth maintained school, the school will have a link educational psychologist (EP). Most academies in Wandsworth have the same arrangement, although schools vary in the amount of time they have available each year.

We do not have the resources to provide a service to schools in the independent sector.

If you have concerns about your child

If you have concerns about your child's progress at school or nursery, you will need to discuss this first with the teachers. Only after they have tried to improve things with their own planning and your help, will they ask other professionals, like an educational psychologist, to become involved. You can ask the school if they think there is a need for an educational psychologist's help.  

We do not take referrals directly from parents, although we are happy to talk through the issues on the phone if you have ongoing concerns after discussing those with the school.

What happens when a concern is raised

If a concern is raised with the Schools and Community Psychology Service about your child in school, we will usually arrange a meeting between you, your child's school and an educational psychologist (EP) to find out about your child's progress and areas of strength and need.

During the meeting our educational psychologist will ask you about your child's development and listen to any concerns you have. They will then help to make plans to help your child's progress; this is likely to include things that may be done at home and at school to help your child.

At the end of the meeting, you will agree how and when your child's progress will be reviewed.

With agreement our educational psychologist may:

  • Observe your child in the class or playground
  • Meet your child to look at his/her school work and listen to his/her views
  • Work with your child on assessment tasks to explore strengths and needs in the child's understanding and skills
  • Discuss concerns with other involved agencies: for example a speech and language therapist, occupational therapist

Wandsworth educational psychologists work in a number of different ways, and testing your child may not always be necessary. We work through a consultation model, where we build up a better understanding of the situation through talking to you, teachers and other involved professionals. We may observe your child, and might meet them directly to discuss their views and to do some assessment if this is appropriate.

The aim of this work is to help everyone improve their understanding of the difficulties, and positive factors in a situation, and help identify the best way forward to improve the outcomes for your child.

Keeping your child informed

Your child may feel anxious and confused about meeting professionals. If it is decided that it would be helpful for an educational psychologist to meet your child then every effort will be made by the educational psychologist to explain to your child who they are and what is going to happen. You can discuss with school staff and the educational psychologist how and when your child will be informed about the involvement of the educational psychologist at the first meeting.

Equal opportunities

As a service we have agreed an equal opportunities policy and we are committed to the principles of equal opportunities:

  • We believe that all individuals share equal value
  • We respect and value individual differences
  • We recognise that in the community discrimination occurs in relation to race, social class, social and/or economic disadvantages, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, age and religion

These principles underpin our work. Through the development and review of our policy, organisation and practice, the Schools and Community Psychology Service is working towards ensuring that it delivers a service that is accessible and fair. It aims to be equally effective for all its clients, neither unfairly advantaging nor disadvantaging any individual or group in the community it serves.

Find out more

To learn more about the team and how we work, speak to your school SENCo.

Or get in touch with us directly:

Up to Schools and Community Psychology Service

Updated: 21/03/2022