What is the role of an Educational Psychologist?
At Waite Psychology, our Educational Psychologists (EPs) work to improve the learning, development and wellbeing of all children and young people.
Whilst a significant part of our role involves supporting those with special educational needs, this represents only one aspect of the breadth and variety of our work. At Waite Psychology, we bring this wide‑ranging expertise into every setting we work with, offering a flexible, relational and evidence‑informed service.
We support children and young people with a broad range of needs. This includes those who:
- Find communication difficult, such as struggling to express themselves, understand others or engage in play and social interaction.
- Experience difficulties in specific areas of learning, including challenges with reading, writing, memory or processing information.
- Are experiencing emotional or mental health needs, such as feeling low, worried, angry, overwhelmed or finding it hard to manage their feelings.
- Have a disability or sensory impairment that affects their access to learning or everyday school life.
- Require psychological advice or assessment to support statutory processes, including Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments (EHCNA).
A core part of our work is supporting children and young people who present with the greatest level of need. Our practice spans the four areas of the SEND Code of Practice (Physical and Sensory, Cognition and Learning, Communication and Interaction, and Social, Emotional and Mental Health), enabling us to build a deep understanding of each child’s strengths, needs and the barriers affecting their learning. Our aim is always to identify solutions that remove those barriers and help children and young people to thrive.
All of our approaches are grounded in expertise in child and adolescent development and applied psychology. To identify the right support, we draw on a range of practices, including:
- Completing ASSESSMENTS to explore a child or young person’s strengths and needs.
- Gaining PUPIL VOICE, ensuring children and young people’s experiences and perspectives shape the support they receive.
- Ensuring strong PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, recognising the vital role families play in understanding and supporting their child.
- Completing CONSULTATION with school staff, parents/carers and other professionals to problem solve collaboratively.
- Devising ACTION PLANS which lead to clear, practical next steps.
- Producing high quality REPORTS which provide clarity, guidance and robust evidence of need.
Whilst much of our work focuses on supporting children and young people with special educational needs, this is only one aspect of what we do. We also work with schools at a group and systemic level, helping staff, families and wider teams develop approaches that benefit the whole school community.
For example:
- Supporting teachers to adapt and strengthen classroom practice.
- Helping schools develop whole‑school approaches to wellbeing and inclusion.
- Contributing to the development and review of school policies.
- Providing training, coaching and professional development for staff.
- Working with parents and carers to understand and support their child’s needs.
- Working proactively to reduce school exclusions.
- Taking part in multi‑agency planning and collaborative problem‑solving.
- Developing and implementing evidence‑informed interventions in schools.
- Completing school‑based projects and research to inform practice.
- Offering supervision for headteachers, teachers and support staff.
