Devon County Council’s Educational Psychology (EP) service will gradually return to early intervention work with schools and settings from January 2024. This part of our focus on getting the right help in place early on so that children and young people are supported to attend their local schools as much as possible.
We need to balance this early intervention work with reducing the time children and young people are waiting for EP advice as part of their education, health and care needs assessments (EHCNAs). So we are initially offering the in-school support to the 100 schools we have identified as having the highest inclusion need.
We looked at data around exclusions, attendance, Elective Home Education (EHE), part-time timetables and EHCNA requests to identify these schools, and they will be contacted over the next few weeks.
We understand that some families will be disappointed if their school won’t be able to access EP support in the short term. Over time, as we continue to reduce waiting times for EHCNA requests, our EP support will be rolled out to more schools and settings. We know that this early intervention work is crucial in supporting children and young people’s needs to be identified and met early on.
What is included in the EP early intervention work in schools?
The EP service model for supporting schools has been re-designed based on feedback from 140 Devon schools, who stated that schools want:
- more face-to-face time with their EP
- more time to discuss and agree intervention plans
- more time for their EP to consult with parents and staff
- opportunities for staff supervision and training
EP support will include a termly School Review Consultation (funded by DCC) to problem-solve key priorities and challenges linked to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Ideally, this will be a multi-agency meeting with representatives from other SEN support and Inclusion services.
The 100 schools will also be able to purchase EP support for Psychology Works consultation, supervision and training. This will be up to two days’ additional support for primary schools, and up to four days for secondary schools.
Information for parents about the educational psychology service from Devon County Council
Information for schools about Educational Psychology Service support