As a practitioner/professional, you can request the involvement of an Educational Psychologist. Professionals can consult with an Educational Psychologists at any time to discuss their possible involvement. All schools in Highland have a liaison Educational Psychologist. Educational Psychologists are specialists working in the area of child development and education, with a focus on learners from birth to 25 years.  Educational Psychologist may offer advice and consultation to those working with children / young people, often through multi-agency discussions. The service can suggest ways to prevent, manage or resolve difficulties as they arise, working in partnership with children / young people, parents / carers and others. For those young people post school, the Educational Psychologist’s role is generally not case work focused but more advisory or strategic in nature.

Request for involvement

Requests for direct support in relation to a child or young person ideally should be made in line with the assessment in a Child’s Plan. An initial consultation or discussion with the Educational Psychologist is generally beneficial to discuss what would be most helpful. Requests for direct involvement with a child/young person MUST have the full agreement of the parents/carers who have parental responsibilities and where the child is old enough to give a view and to understand the request, the child/young person must also agree with the request.

Concerns to consider and mention in the request:
What is the presenting issue(s) and how is this impacting on the child/young person and others
What behaviours have been observed and/or are causing concern
What assessments have been undertaken – how the child is developing in relation to their peers (academic assessments, profiles of emotional development or observation etc.). Information on the learning context and engagement of the child/young person.
Other important information to consider and include
What outcome is expected/required? Who else is involved with the child/young person? What has already been tried in terms of support/intervention

You can contact us by phone 01463 644 400 or by email highlandcouncilpsychologicalservice@highland.gov.uk

To provide some more information about our role, we have made these films;

  • What does an Educational Psychologist do?
  • How can I access an Educational Psychologist?

‘Just Ask’

Where there is no current Educational Psychologist involvement, but you have a query about a child’s development, you can access an Educational Psychologist through the ‘Just ask’ enquiry line, every Tuesday and Thursday between 1pm and 4pm. The enquiry line is for all Highland children, young people, parents, carers and those who work with them. Call us on 0300 303 1365. Please note, this is not a route to requesting involvement, for this you should contact the liaison Educational Psychologist for your area. If you are unsure about who this is, please speak with the child’s Named Person. Alternatively, you can contact us by phone or email. If you have involvement of an Educational Psychologist, please direct your query to them.