The information on this page is aimed at professionals. If you are a parent and want information about what we do please see our Information for parents.
Who we are
All our Educational Psychologists have professional training and qualifications, are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council and adhere to the HCPC standards of conduct, performance, ethics and proficiency.
We are pleased to have Trainee and Assistant Educational Psychologists as part of our team working under the supervision of a qualified Educational Psychologist.
What we do
We offer a range of services to support children and young adults 0-25 years old. We work with families, staff and other professionals in a range of settings, applying psychology to promote positive outcomes.
Our work may involve:
- Consultation and assessment to support individual children and young adults with SEND. This may involve consulting with families and professionals and working with children and adults individually
- Working in statutory role within the Local Authority, providing advice as part of the Education Health and Care needs assessment process when requested by the SEND Service
- Working at a group and class level for example intervention with groups
- Supervision, training and / or coaching with staff
- Working systemically to support whole school development for example Emotionally Friendly Schools
- Working in the community for example through the family hubs
- Carrying out research
- Providing a psychological perspective to assist Local Authority decision making for example through attendance at panels and contributing to strategic developments.
The EPS is a partially traded service and is a not for profit organisation.
Each academic year, all schools in Wigan receive time from the Educational Psychology Service that is funded by the council. Prior to the beginning of the academic year, schools and other educational establishments are able to commission packages of additional time from the service to support their setting at a systemic level and through individual casework to meet their requirements (subject to capacity).
Requesting involvement
Parental consent needs to be obtained before any involvement takes place. It is important that parents have information to enable them to make an informed decision about whether they would like our service to be involved.
EP Reach Out has produced a short video for children and young adults to explain what an educational psychologist does.
Nursery aged children
In Early years we work in collaboration with the Early Learning and Childcare Team (ELCT) to identify children within the early years that require EP support. Private, voluntary and independent settings should contact the ELCT for support. Maintained nurseries (nurseries that are part of a primary school) should still liaise with the ELCT but can organise involvement directly with us using their school time.
School aged children
Each school has a linked Education Psychologist (EP) who works with the school’s Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) to discuss the needs of the school and the support that is available. Together, they prioritise and organise how to allocate EP time.
Post 16
Colleges can also commission time from the Educational Psychology Service to suit their requirements.
Training
Schools and settings can request bespoke training as part of their service level agreement.
We also provide centralised training for schools and settings on a range of topics.
For more details and booking information, please visit our Services for Schools website.
EP involvement in statutory processes
The Educational Psychology Service also has a statutory role within the Local Authority.
- EP's provide advice and assessment in relation to Education Health and Care Needs Assessments (EHCNA) when requested by the SEND Service
- EP's provide a psychological perspective to assist Local Authority decision making.
If you would like to understand the EHCNA process in more detail, there is some useful information on our Education, health and care assessment and annual reviews webpage.