Wellbeing Plans and Joint Support Team Meetings
When concerns about a child or young person’s wellbeing and/or learning are identified by
schools and ELCs, they will conduct a wellbeing assessment and begin a staged intervention
process. This may result in a child or young person having individual targets that are
monitored in a wellbeing plan (CWP) . Stage One wellbeing plans are monitored by the
school or ELC. Stage Two wellbeing plans are monitored by the school/ELC and may be
reviewed at the Joint Support Team meeting (JST).
Every educational establishment in East Renfrewshire has a working Joint Support Team (JST) who meet regularly to discuss progress, share information and plan any additional support that a child/ young person may require. The JST in East Renfrewshire is a multi disciplinary meeting which places children/ young people at the centre of a multi agency approach.
The JST consists of a member of the senior management team in the school (who is usually the chair of the meeting) educational psychologist and a member of social work or health professional where appropriate. Parents’ permission is always sought before discussion at the JST.
How A Referral to the Educational Psychology Service Is Made
After a period of review and following discussion with the EP at the JST, the school may seek
more direct involvement from EPS to allow them to meet the needs of individual children and
young people. A member of school staff will discuss this with you and will ask for your permission and views before a referral is made. Cases can also be referred to the service by health and social work staff. If you want to raise any of your own concerns about your son or daughter’s progress, we suggest that you speak to the head teacher of your child’s school. If your daughter or son is at secondary, please speak to a pastoral support teacher.
Once there is agreement to make a referral, the school then submits this to the RGM. Individual referrals to the RGM are made by completing and submitting an online referral form, along with an up-to-date copy of the child’s most recently evaluated wellbeing plan.
The EPS Resource Group Meeting (RGM) takes place every 3 weeks during term time to
consider referrals from schools and ELCs for casework involvement with individual children
and young people. The RGM uses guiding questions to make decisions and
recommendations based on the information provided by the referrer. The meetings are
chaired by the EPS and include participation from the EPS team, as well as from education
staff from schools and ELC.
What Happens Next
Following the RGM, decisions regarding individual referrals will be sent to the referrer. The outcomes can include the following:
- Indirect Involvement: A one off consultation meeting involving the school, link EP, parents and/or child/young person to discuss the child or young person’s needs and possible strategies and supports.
- Direct Involvement: An initial consultation meeting involving the school, allocated EP, parents and/or child/young person, followed by the agreed piece of work – e.g. further assessment, consultation or intervention.
- Other RGM outcomes:
- A request for further information from the referrer prior to a decision being made.
- Further signposting to resources (e.g. appropriate resources and strategies on the Healthier Minds website).
- No direct EPS involvement at this time.
The type of assessment carried out will depend on the concerns raised. This will always involve gathering your views, those of your son or daughter and those of any other professionals who are involved.
Additional assessment may involve:
• looking at existing information
• observation in class or in the home
• direct assessment with your son or daughter
After assessment is carried out, the Educational Psychologist will sit down with you and others involved, and give feedback. In this meeting, everyone will be asked to share ideas on how best to support your son or daughter. This information will be used to put a support plan in place. Everything we do and all the information that we gather in the process of assessment is treated in the strictest confidence, except where the safety or well being of any child or young person may be put at risk.
At the end of an identified piece of work – when key information has been fed back to those
involved – and where it is agreed that there will be no further active involvement for EPS at
this time, the case file will be closed.
