Educational Psychology Service (EPS)
FAO Schools/ Headteachers and Heads of 6th form and SENCOS
North London Educational Psychology Open Evening
Educational Psychology Service (EPS)
The Enfield Educational Psychology Service is the main provider of psychological services to Enfield schools and early years settings. They have direct links to services in education, health and social care, which promotes a coordinated approach.
What is an educational psychologist?
Educational psychologists work with the adults who know the child or young person well to understand their strengths and areas of need. They can also carry out assessment work with the child or young person. By working together, the educational psychologist will help plan the next steps to support a child’s emotional wellbeing and learning.
An educational psychologist is a trained applied psychologist who has a psychology degree, as well as a masters or doctorate training in Educational Psychology.
What is an Educational Psychologist? (PDF, 199.11 KB).
How can an educational psychologist help?
Educational psychologists can help children and young people through a range of work, including:
- consultation and advice to schools and settings
- individual psychological assessments with children and young people
- working with other professionals
- designing and/or delivering interventions including therapeutic support
- delivering professional learning for education staff
- providing parent or carer support
They also work with people across many levels, including:
- system leaders at a national, regional or local level - supporting policy and strategic developments, including action research
- whole school or educational settings – supporting organisational approaches, for example a whole school approach to wellbeing, or training staff on approaches to autism etc.
- groups of parents or carers – giving guidance on common areas to provide help, for example workshops or intervention programmes on autism or children’s emotional development
- groups of children and young people - giving guidance on common areas to provide help, for example workshops or intervention programmes on managing anxiety, preparing for exams, or supporting siblings
- individual children and young people and their families – supporting children with their learning, development, or emotional wellbeing or behaviour. They work with the other professionals involved with the child and their school / educational setting
EPS telephone support
Enfield Educational Psychology Service has a telephone support line for any parent or carer of a child living in Enfield or attending a school in Enfield. This is a confidential space for parents and carers to talk about any concerns they have for their child’s wellbeing, learning or behaviour. Signposting information is also provided. Please click the link on the right to see the flyer. Alternatively click on this link.
The telephone support line is not a referral route for the EPS.
Emotional Literacy Support Assistants
Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs) is an Educational Psychology-led national programme, which trains and provides ongoing support for Teaching Assistants, Learning Support Assistants and Learning Mentors to work alongside their existing roles to provide Social Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) interventions to pupils in their schools. The Enfield Educational Psychology Service provides regular information sessions for schools who are interested in training ELSAs. We aim to provide the training course twice per year, if there is sufficient interest from schools. For further information about the programme, please click the link on the right to see our brochure.
Senior Mental Health Lead Network
Enfield EPS co-ordinates the Senior Mental Health Lead (SMHL) Network. This is a partnership led network with a purpose of establishing an Enfield wide group to support the developing role of the Senior Mental Health Lead. The network meeting includes:
- updates on new initiatives in Enfield regarding children’s emotional wellbeing and mental health.
- promoting the DfE training offer for SMHLs
- providing updates on the Local Offer for SEMH
- introducing and embedding the Thrive Framework
- access to facilitated group supervision/refection to share good practice
- membership to Enfield Thrives Together network
The flyer for this network is on the right with a link to join.
Enfield Trauma Informed Practice in Schools and Settings (E-TIPSS)
Trauma informed practice ideas are not new to Enfield. For years there has been excellent work where services and schools staff have recognised that challenging behaviour is a communication for unmet needs and they have been integrating trauma informed approaches, attachment theory and attuned care into their practice to support our most vulnerable children who need help to develop their skills to understand and manage their emotions.
E-TIPSS is about everyone working in a trauma informed way and it is not just an approach when thinking about and supporting our most vulnerable children, it is a valuable approach when planning the routines of the school day, thinking about our school ethos and environments, delivering the curriculum, writing our policies, communicating with and supporting our children, our families, our staff and our whole community.
E-TIPSS is a partnership programme and aims for our whole workforce to be trauma informed and trauma responsive. In order that we do this effectively and in a sustained way, Enfield EPS is working with Kati Taunt (consultant) to implement the Attachment Regulation Competency (ARC) framework (Blaustein and Kinniburgh, 2019).
The E-TIPSS programme involves:
- developing a team of E-TIPSS Champions who will sustain the approach with our schools and settings and across services. Our E-TIPSS Champions are already experts in their field and have additional training on the ARC framework
- providing regular briefings for leaders of schools and services.
- providing a central training programme for schools and settings.
- providing training for a whole school staff group and follow up implementation support.
- facilitating networks for schools to share good practice.
For further information please contact Enfield EPS.
Emotional Based School Non Attendance (EBSNA)
Enfield EPS is working in partnership with Enfield Admissions and Attendance Service to promote awareness and support for EBSNA through:
- training sessions for school staff and partner agencies
- workshops for parents and carers.
For more information contact Enfield EPS or Education Welfare Service duty: ews@enfield.gov.uk
Educational Psychology Support for Critical Incidents
Educational Psychologists (EPs) can offer support to schools in situations that have the potential to cause disruption and distress to the school when members of the school community are affected by a significant loss, traumatic or sad event.
EPs will support the school’s Senior Management Team to consider the situation, develop an understanding of the support needs of individuals and groups within the school community and guide planning in relation to providing the right emotional support at the right time.
In relation to emotional support, EPs mostly work with the adults in the school so that they can support the pupils, as research tells us that children and young people prefer / find it more beneficial speaking with familiar people who they will have an ongoing relationship / contact with. Research does not suggest a need for counselling in the immediacy of a traumatic experience. The EPs can also signpost the school to access advice, information and resources in relation to emotional support or reassurance.
Further information can be found in the Critical Incidents Protocol for Schools and Educational Settings. Contact the EPS by phone or email to request critical incident support.
Contact the Educational Psychology Service
Contact Enfield Educational Psychology Service by calling 020 8379 2000, or by email at EPS@enfield.gov.uk.
Follow the EPS on Twitter @ENFIELDEPS