In East Dunbartonshire Council, the Educational Psychology Service fulfills all of its duties through working collaboratively as part of the team around the child, through development and training work in schools and by supporting the development and implementation of Education Service strategies and policies. The Service also supports national programmes of training and research.

All Educational Psychology Services in Scotland have duties which are based in statute. These are described in the 1980 Education Act & ASL (Scotland) Act 2004 & 2009

• The study of children with additional support needs (ASN)
• The giving of advice to parents and teachers as to appropriate methods of education
• The giving of advice to a local authority regarding the assessment of the needs of any child

The Service carries out an extensive range of duties in relation to children and young people by operating at three levels within the Council, namely that of the individual, young person/family, the level of the school/establishment and at the level of the authority.

In relation to each of these three levels of work, psychologists carry out five core functions: Consultation, Assessment, Intervention, Training and Research.

In East Dunbartonshire Council Educational Psychology Service we aim to work in collaboration with all partners including parents and young people in the least intrusive way in order to meet the educational and well-being needs of young people. Through collaborative working we can

• build solutions with and around children, young people and families
• enable children and young people to get the help they need when they need it
• support a positive shift in culture, systems and practice
• be better placed to improve life chances for children, young people and families

Our educational psychologists operate within a framework where any difficulties being experienced by an individual young person are viewed as arising from the interaction of the young person with their environment, curriculum, peers and teachers.

The Service has excellent links with the Scottish training course for Educational Psychologists at the University of Dundee and we offer trainee places for all three years of training.

Each school within East Dunbartonshire Council has a named link Psychologist who provides service to school staff, children and families. Access to the Psychological Service is therefore mainly through schools. Where a parent or other agency has a concern related to the child’s learning, or to any other issue related to the child in school, it is helpful for this to be raised with the Head Teacher in the first instance.