Referral Process
East Dunbartonshire schools and nurseries have a system in place for monitoring and reviewing the progress and wellbeing of all children and young people. Each local authority nursery and school has a named (or ‘Link’) Educational Psychologist who visits them on a regular basis. Each nursery and school has a Pupil Support Group or Support for All Group which is attended by the link Educational Psychologist, as well as other professionals eg. Education Support Teacher, Speech and Language Therapist. These groups meet regularly and aim to create a multi-agency team which discuss support needs across the school/nursery. If appropriate, and with parental consent, the nursery/school can request assistance from our Service. We only become involved with parental permission or if the young person is over 12 they can provide consent.
Service Leaflet
A guide to Educational Psychology Assessment
Dyslexia Guidelines
Please find our revised Dyslexia Guidelines here.
Dyscalculia Guidelines
Please find our revised Dyscalculia Guidelines here.
Critical Incidents Guidelines
Please see our Critical Incident Guidelines for schools here.
Responding to self harm and suicide
Please see our multi agency guidelines for responding to issues of self harm and suicide
EP role in EDC decision making groups
An establishment’s link Educational Psychologist is a core member of nursery ‘Support for All’ and school ‘Pupil Support Group’ teams.
A representative from the Educational Psychology Service also attends the Local Authority’s education decision making groups:
EARLY YEARS COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT TEAM (EYCAT)
EYCAT is a multi-agency group who coordinate services for children below school age who require additional support. The EYCAT forum is chaired by an Inclusion Officer and has a wide range of representatives from Education, Health and Social Work. Requests to the EYCAT forum are usually made by another professional such as a Health Visitor or Paediatrician. Requests to EYCAT are only accepted with the full consent and agreement of parent/ carer.
LOCALITY LIAISON GROUP (LLG) / GIRFEC LIAISON GROUP (GLG)
For learners of school age (including those who are in their preschool year and are seeking a primary one place in a specialist resource at Tier 2 & 3) there is the Locality Liaison Group (LLG). There are two LLG groups – one for Bearsden and Milngavie locality and another for Bishopbriggs, Lenzie and Kirkintilloch locality. All recommendations are then sent for further consideration to the GIRFEC Liaison Group (GLG). Both of these groups are attended by representatives from education, speech therapy and social work.
Further information is available within: Including Every Learner: Policy and provision for children and young people with additional support needs in East Dunbartonshire Council. Including Every Learner
Practitioner Enquiry
Currently, the Educational Psychology Service are involved in supporting practitioner enquiry in a variety of areas including:
- Autism Advisors
- Literacy Strategy Group
- Numeracy Strategy Group
- Play 2 Learn
- Talking Mats
Practitioner enquiry is about investigating a question, within your practice or context, using a formalised process. It is any form of evaluation which includes the following steps:
- identify an issue to be addressed
- look at other resources and/or research literature to identify possible reasons and solutions
- identify and implement a strategy to attempt to improve the issue
- evaluate the changes made.
For Teachers and Education staff, research and practitioner enquiry is a key part of Professional Review and Development. Practitioner enquiry supports self-evaluation for improvement planning in East Dunbartonshire schools and centres which in turn is driven by the key priorities in the National Improvement Framework:
- Improving attainment and achievement
- Closing the attainment gaps
- Improving children and young people’s health and wellbeing
- Improving employability skills and sustained positive school leaver destinations
Useful Links
Practitioner Enquiry in East Dunbartonshire Council Guide: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/Documents/sac76-practitioner-enquiry-guide.pdf
GTCS Website: https://www.gtcs.org.uk/professional-update/research-and-practitioner-enquiry/research-and-practitioner-enquiry.aspx
