Lewisham educational psychology team

• Sue Franklin, Principal Educational Psychologist
• Enomwoyi Damali, Deputy Principal Educational Psychologist
• Caoimhe McBay, Senior Educational and Child Psychologist
• Selina Yagambrun, Educational and Child Psychologist
• Amanda Davidson, Senior Specialist Educational Psychologist for Children Looked After
• Holly Allison, Senior Specialist Educational and Child Psychologist for Early Years
• Amy Robb, Educational and Child Psychologist 
• Daniel Acheampong, Educational and Child Psychologist
• Siobhan O'Leary, Educational and Child Psychologist
• Eartha Chaloner, Educational and Child Psychologist
• Beverley Lemon, Senior Business Support Officer
• Simon Finaldi, Acting Business Development Manager
• Sarah Balcombe, Senior Educational and Child Psychologist SEMH
• Joanna Chue, Educational and Child Psychologist
• Millie Hayes, Educational and Child Psychologist
• Naomi Milliken, Educational and Child Psychologist
• Rebecca Stokoe, Educational and Child Psychologist
• Roxanne Parker, Educational and Child Psychologist
• Ruth Adongo, Educational and Child Psychologist
• Tassaree Wilson, Educational and Child Psychologist

If you have got to the point of considering an EHCNA this could mean that your child requires additional support that is beyond what a typical mainstream school can provide. Any school, parent/carer or young person (aged over 16-25 years) can make a request to the local authority to ask that they conduct an EHCNA (Children and Families Act, 2014).  The request is often completed jointly by the school and family. 

Following review of the request, which is discussed at a multi-agency Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) panel, the local authority can agree that a child or young person requires an EHCNA. At this stage an Educational Psychologist (EP) will be formally asked to conduct a psychological assessment.

What will a psychological assessment look like?

These are some general principles of good EP practice. All EPs will:

• act in the best interests of children and young people -the child or young person’s views and needs are at the centre of the process
• practise in a non-discriminatory manner
• apply current thinking and knowledge of educational psychology
• work in partnership, where appropriate, with children and young people, parents/carers and other practitioners,  where possible the aim should be for co-production of psychological advice with children and their families’ views fairly represented
• the EP will agree outcomes  for the child with their family and school and make recommendations for supporting the child based on their assessment
• ensure effective communication with families and other practitioners, reports should use clear, concise language, sharing psychological perspectives in ways that can be understood by all
• exercise a duty of care to all those with whom they work

During the assessment, the EP will engage with the child and the parent/carer(s) ensuring that they are able to participate in decisions. We believe that every child is unique and that means that every assessment will be unique. The EP will decide what assessment tools they are going to use based on what they feel is going to help them to best understand the young person, their needs and their strengths.

The psychological assessment will explore key areas of the child’s development. In Lewisham, EPs explore a young person’s development in: 

• learning and cognition
• social, emotional and mental health

At the end of the assessment, the EP will share their written psychological advice with parent/carers before submitting their assessment to Lewisham Local Authority. 

• find out more about the EHCNA process

The work of an educational psychologist

We can support across a range of areas that have an impact on your school experience, including feelings, learning and friendships. We have all completed or are working towards a qualification in educational psychology.

We work for children and young people aged 0 to 25. We might meet with you and/or your teachers and parent or carer.

What might happen when you work with an educational psychologist

We may meet with you at school or at home. When we meet, we will do some activities together and we might visit you in your classroom to help us to understand how best to support you. It is important for us to get to know you, because your views and ideas can help us understand how to help you grow and be at your best.

We will work with you, your family or carer and school to make a plan. You may want to take part in the meeting where we think together about the plan or you may prefer us to share your hopes and ideas. Working together with you is important. We will listen to you carefully and treat you with respect. This is an important part of the work we do. We understand that it might feel scary or uncomfortable talking to us. When we meet will think about this together.

Usually, we will work with you one or two times. We might work with you again when we come back to your school to see how the plan we created with you is going. Sometimes, we might work with you over a longer time. In this case, we will let you know how many times and how often we will work with you.

You might see us around, as we will be working with other children and young people in your school. If you see us, feel free to give us a wave or to pretend you don’t know us. We know that you may or may not want your classmates to know you have worked with us, so we won’t say hello unless we know you feel comfortable.

What to do if you need help and support

We work with schools to decide who works with an educational psychologist in our team. We think about lots of things when making a decision. If you think it would be helpful to work with an educational psychologist, you could talk to your parent, carer or your teacher or SENCo at school.

If you are struggling or worried about your mental health, you could talk to your parent, carer, someone you trust at school or your GP. You can also contact organisations that can provide urgent support.

Consultation

Lewisham Educational Psychology Team uses an approach called consultation to work with children and young people in schools and other settings. We work with a parent or carer and usually someone from the school or early years setting to explore your hopes for change or to think together about a child. Together, we explore a range of factors to help us build a picture of what might be happening for a child or young person and then we usually agree on some actions.

Early Years

The Educational Psychology team support young children’s learning, play and well-being using psychology. Our approach may differ based on the child’s individual strengths and needs, but usually if a child has been referred to us, we ask to meet with the referrer and parents to discuss the concerns.

We often ask about the child’s strengths and interests as this helps us to think about ways to support them. We might also observe the child or meet with them to do some play activities so that we can find out more about their development. After our initial visit, we ask to meet again in approximately six weeks, so that we can see how things are going. We might also help to make a plan to support the child’s transition to school.

Educational psychologists also try to attend some of the Explorer and Little Explorer sessions at the Bellingham, Laydwell and Evelyn Children’s Centres. This gives us the opportunity to have a chat with parents about any concerns or questions that they might have about their child’s development. We can provide a ‘listening ear’ or help to signpost to services and/or helpful resources.

We also have an Educational psychologist who specialises in the early years and works in partnership with professionals within the local authority. They provide training and support to early years settings and support projects within the local authority.

Video Interaction Guidance

Video Interaction Guidance, often called VIG, is a strengths-based approach to improving positive communication between an adult and child. The adult may be a parent, carer, member of staff from an education setting or another important adult in a child’s life. The adult and the educational psychologist watch video clips of positive interactions, such as playing or reading together. These clips are shared with the adult to prompt thinking about how to build on these moments to further develop positive communication, including being in tune with the child’s emotional needs:

• find out more about VIG

What happens during VIG

• VIG takes place somewhere convenient for the adult such as at home, school or nursery
• the psychologist makes a short film (approximately 10 minutes) of the adult and child doing something they enjoy in the home or school setting
• the psychologist chooses a few short clips from the film which show the adult and child communicating well
• the psychologist and the adult meet and watch the clips together and talk about the positive aspects of the communication

The psychologist is likely to create several short films and hold VIG sessions to share the edited clips with you. Often you will have a VIG session to review a video and then a new video will be recorded on the same day. Sometimes these will happen on different days. Each recording and review is called a cycle. The number of cycles varies based on individual circumstances, but is often around 3 to 4 cycles.  

Confidentiality and consent

As part of the VIG process the psychologist is supported by their supervisor. Supervisors are experienced VIG practitioners who have achieved supervisor status through completing additional qualifications in the use of VIG. The clips are viewed by the adult, the psychologist and their supervisor.

Film is only made when consent has been given in writing from parents and can be withdrawn at any time. We also pay attention to both the assent and consent of children and young people. This means that if a child or young person communicates that they do not want to be involved, we will stop recording and consider with you whether they are saying ‘no’ to being recorded for that session or to being involved in VIG at all.  

All video recordings are kept securely and confidentially for the period of the work.

Parents can have a copy of the video clips if they wish.

Links to school services

If you are a school or setting, visit the School Services website for more information on support available from the Lewisham Educational Psychology Team.

As Educational Psychologists, we have an ethical responsibility to engage in social justice and antiracist action. As a team, we stand in solidarity with our ethnically diverse community members and colleagues, and pledge to do all in our power to call out, address, and dismantle the systemic inequities in our society that we may knowingly or unknowingly perpetuate.

We want our service to become more skilled and open to discussing topics of race and racism that have an impact on the experiences of those we work with, including children, young people and the people who support them. As an ethnically diverse team of psychologists, we are also committed to ensuring that members of staff from ethnically diverse backgrounds work within an emotionally safe team.

At Lewisham Educational Psychology Team we have written our Lewisham Educational Psychology Team Anti-Racist Statement and Plan of Action. This includes a commitment to:

• providing training
• exploring how we use assessments
• embedding anti-racism and culturally responsive approaches within our work

If you have made an attempt to end your own life or if someone you know has attempted to end their life, call 999 or ask someone to call for you.

Childline

Childline provides a free confidential helpline and support from counsellors online for anyone up to age 19.

Telephone: 0800 1111

• visit the Childline website

Samaritans

Samaritans provide 24 hour confidential emotional support for people experiencing distress.

Telephone: 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org.

Shout

This is a 24 hour text service for anyone in crisis or struggling to cope. It is free on all major mobile networks.

Text Shout to 85258

• visit the Shout website 

Kooth

With Kooth,11 to 24-year-olds can chat confidentially online to counsellors. You can also read articles written by young people, browse forums, and keep a daily journal.

• visit the Kooth website

Young Minds

The Young Minds website offers advice and information about youth mental health issues.

• visit the Young Minds website