Who we are

Our educational psychologists are qualified to work with children, parents and carers, and school staff. They are registered to practice by the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC).

As a service, we strive for continued development and improvement. Our vision: Making a difference. Our mission: Enabling positive change through listening, optimism and insight. Our values: Respect, integrity, collaboration and kindness. We have strong links with local universities who provide educational psychology doctorate training. We have several trainee educational psychologists working in our service and value the breadth of new knowledge and skills that they bring.

Who we work with

The Educational Psychology Service can work with children and young people aged 0 to 25 years old. Working together with parents and carers is an essential part of our work. The focus is always on supporting the child within the educational setting.

Every school has an educational psychologist linked to them, and will have a Support and Planning meeting at least once a year with them. The work that the educational psychologist will do is agreed with a member of staff from the school, usually the headteacher or SENDCO. If parents have concerns about their child, they should raise this with school staff in the first instance.

Most schools in Derbyshire subscribe to our service. There are 2 levels of subscription: standard and enhanced. Both are jointly funded by the school and the local authority (LA). The support for non-subscribing schools is limited to statutory work or critical incident support only. All schools can request to 'spot-purchase' further work in addition to the subscription. Schools should visit our S4S page for further details regarding subscription and purchasing.

Referrals to support pre-school children who are not in a maintained setting can be made to our service via the Early Years Panel. We do not have set criteria for our involvement but would expect referrals to show:

  • Evidence of the graduated response to meeting the child's needs and the impact this has had. This could include:
  • Evidence of social and emotional needs (there might be other needs alongside) that are:
    • persisting despite appropriate support and
    • providing a significant barrier to the child's development and/or inclusion in the setting and/or are causing concern for upcoming transition to school.

We are also commissioned by the Local Authority or other organisations to do work that is not directly linked to specific schools. For example, providing professional supervision, offering training and engaging in research and projects.

What we do

Educational psychologists aim to help children:

  • enjoy their time in school
  • take part in all aspects of the school life
  • make the best progress possible.

We do this by: 

  • trying to understand any issues or problems that impact the child
  • helping to remove any barriers
  • being flexible and responsive, recognising that one size doesn't fit all
  • using principles of applied psychology
  • working collaboratively with those involved with the child or young person
  • putting the child or young person's needs at the heart of our work.

The ways in which we work

The ways in which we work include:

  • Consultations: meeting with the adults around the child or young person to jointly discuss ways forward.
  • Direct work with a child and observations.
  • Intervention work with a child or young person.
  • Training to school staff on a wide range of topics.

Flagship training events

Our flagship training events are:

  • The Derbyshire Behaviour Box.
  • ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistants).
  • Annual Educational Psychology Service Conference.

We're happy to discuss individual training needs and design bespoke packages.

Other training courses

Other training courses we offer include:

  • Attachment.
  • Resilience.
  • Growth mind-set.
  • Trauma.
  • Self-care and emotional wellbeing.
  • Critical incidents.
  • Therapeutic stories.
  • Positive psychology.
  • Loss and bereavement.
  • Precision teaching.
  • Literacy difficulties.
  • Autism.
  • Emotional coaching.
  • Understanding behaviour.
  • Working with schools to develop systems or procedures within the school.
  • Supporting staff wellbeing.

Removing barriers to education toolkit

The Removing Barriers to education: A toolkit for supporting children and young people experiencing Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) has been developed by Derbyshire Educational Psychology Service in response to the outcomes of the ‘Derbyshire and Derby City Attendance Project’ which took place in 2022-23.

Following an introduction, the toolkit explores 6 key areas which have been identified as important when supporting those experiencing EBSA: child-centred; curious; connection; collaborate; celebrate; and commitment. Throughout the toolkit there are lots of evidence-based strategies and ideas of how to support children and young people who are experiencing difficulties in attending or engaging with school.

Where we're located

We have team bases in Chesterfield, Buxton, and Denby. The principal and deputy principal educational psychologists are based at County Hall in Matlock.

Contact us

Telephone: 01629 533815
Email: EDPsych.Adminripley@derbyshire.gov.uk

Dr. Heather Northcote, Deputy Principal Educational Psychologist
Email: Heather.northcote@derbyshire.gov.uk