Author: Schools & Community Psychology Service

The Diverse Role of Educational Psychologists

Educational Psychologists (EPs) are highly trained professionals who bring psychological expertise to the education sector. Working within local authority services, EPs partner with schools to promote inclusion, wellbeing, and achievement for all children and young people aged 0–25. Here’s how EPs can make a difference in your setting:

1. Understanding Schools and Learners

EPs know how educational settings operate and understand the complexities of teaching and learning. They combine knowledge of pedagogy with expertise in child development—both typical and atypical—ensuring that support is tailored and avoids unnecessary pathologising of behaviour.

2. Providing Ecologically Valid Assessments

Rather than relying solely on standardised tests, EPs conduct assessments in familiar environments such as classrooms or nurseries. These assessments are bespoke, focusing on the child’s context and needs, and aim to inform practical, personalised strategies rather than diagnostic labels.

3. Offering a Range of Psychological Services

EPs work at multiple levels—individual, group, and whole-school—through:

• Consultation: Collaborative problem-solving with staff and families.
• Assessment: Holistic understanding of learning and wellbeing needs.
• Intervention: Evidence-based strategies to support progress.
• Training: Building staff capacity in areas like emotional regulation, trauma-informed practice, and inclusive teaching.
• Research: Applying implementation science to bridge the gap between policy and practice.

4. Promoting Psychological Safety

Schools are busy, high-pressure environments. EPs help create spaces for reflection and emotional containment, supporting staff wellbeing and resilience. They offer supervision and reflective practice to reduce compassion fatigue and moral injury, enabling educators to stay aligned with their values.

5. Driving Change Through Critical Thinking

EPs act as “critical friends,” challenging assumptions and supporting schools to adopt practices grounded in research and lived experience. They synthesise information from multiple sources—children, families, teachers, and other professionals—to provide a holistic view that informs decision-making.

6. Amplifying Pupil and Family Voice

Through participatory approaches, EPs ensure that interventions are meaningful and relevant. They help schools listen to and act on the perspectives of children and families, fostering collaboration and trust.

Insights from Schools: What Works Best

From our 24-25 end-of-year review, 59 of our commissioned schools highlighted what helped them achieve their goals:

• Effective Communication and Collaboration between EPs, SENCOs, and staff with 96% of schools highlighting this as a major strength of the SCPS.
• Flexibility and responsiveness to changing priorities (96%).
• Improved relationships between parents and staff was reported in 84% of responses as a key outcome of our involvement.
• Timely Assessments and Reports that inform action praised in 92% of those who responded.
• Training and strategic support was areas of EP input for 65% of our schools.

What schools said they would like more of:

• More Systemic and Preventative Work (e.g., whole-school approaches).
• Additional EP Time to meet growing demand.

Top Tips: How to Make the Best Use of Your EP Service

1. Plan Ahead: Book EP time early in the term to align with school priorities.
2. Be Clear on Goals: Share your desired outcomes—child, group, or whole-school. If you are not sure what these are, let us help you with our multi-tiered support modelling. 
3. Engage in Consultation and save time: Use EP consultations for problem-solving before requesting formal assessments. We can achieve a lot when we think together! 
4. Share Context: Provide background information and strategies already tried. People are the products of their context- the better we understand it, the more effective the ideas we can come up with! 
5. Involve Key Staff: Include SENCOs, class teachers, and pastoral leads in discussions- the more the merrier! Let us be the bridge between multiple systems across big schools. 
6. Think Systemically: Ask EPs about whole-school approaches, not just individual cases. Together we can create impact that lives on! 
7. Use Training Opportunities: EPs can deliver CPD across all current hot topics such as neurodiversity, ADHD, trauma-informed practice, emotional regulation, and literacy.
8. Follow Up: Review actions after EP involvement and keep communication open. We like to hear how/ whether we are making a difference. 
9. Leverage Research: Ask EPs about evidence-based strategies adapted for your setting. Even better if you want to use our research skills for your own local explorations. 
10. Prioritise Wellbeing: Use EPs for staff reflective sessions to maintain resilience and psychological safety. Hope is not a feeling, hope is a plan and it can start with an email to our service! 

Transitions into school – particularly at reception age – are pivotal moments in a child’s development. While many children appear outwardly settled, research and case studies reveal that the emotional experience of separation can be far more complex.

Emotional Responses to Separation: What the Literature Tells Us

Children’s emotional responses to separation are often hidden beneath calm or engaged behaviour. Drawing on Bowlby’s stages of separation – protest, despair, and detachment – research shows that short-term separations can trigger intense emotional reactions. If a child’s emotional needs are not met, they may move from protest to despair, potentially impacting their ability to form attachments within the school setting.

The literature also highlights the importance of secure attachments and the role of schools in acting as a secure base. Theories such as Mahler’s separation-individuation and Winnicott’s transitional objectsunderscore how children use symbolic play and objects to navigate the emotional terrain of separation and develop a sense of individuality.

Case Studies: Observing the Hidden Layers of Separation

The case studies that Suzie explored as part of her doctoral thesis involved engaging children through play and drawing activities in order to explore their experiences of separation from their caregivers. Whilst one child showed visible distress during separation, they gradually adjusted, as reflected in their drawings and classroom engagement. Another child appeared settled but lacked peer connections and focused heavily on family themes in discussion with Suzie suggesting a desire to remain connected to home. 

These observations reinforce the idea that outward behaviour may not reflect internal emotional states, and that schools must create opportunities for children to express their feelings in safe, supportive ways.

Implications for Schools: Recognising and Responding to Emotional Needs

Educators play a crucial role in identifying children who may be struggling with separation. Signs include:

• Withdrawal or lack of engagement
• Difficulty forming peer or adult connections
• Persistent emotional dysregulation throughout the day

Children who successfully transfer a sense of security from their parents to school adults and peers tend to adjust more easily. 

Practical Strategies for Supporting Transitions

To support children during transitions, schools can implement the following strategies:

Conclusion: Balancing Emotional and Academic Needs

While academic pressures are real, supporting children’s emotional adjustment during transitions is foundational to long-term success. By recognising the hidden emotional experiences of separation and implementing thoughtful strategies, educators can foster a sense of belonging and resilience in every child. This also means that children are given the tools to understand and process the loss of their attachment figure (however short term) and express their feelings verbally, instead of behaviourally. 

By Marcia Mota-Kerby, Educational Psychologist

Every day, educators are navigating social and emotional complexities, supporting children’s wellbeing, fostering inclusion, and responding to diverse needs within ever-changing contexts. Schools are not only spaces of learning but also places of safety, belonging, and emotional support for pupils and their families. Within this dynamic landscape, compassion is not an option – it is a necessity. It is an internal motivational process that can transform the school culture, restore connection, and strengthen communities from within.

What Is Compassion?

Compassion, as defined by the psychologist Paul Gilbert (2019) is “a sensitivity to suffering in self and others, with a commitment to try to alleviate and prevent it.”

It involves two key components:

1. Engagement – noticing and tuning in to distress (in ourselves or others).
2. Action – taking wise, supportive steps to help reduce that distress.

Unlike empathy, which focuses on recognising and connecting with another person’s emotions, compassion adds the motivation to help. It engages courage, wisdom, and emotional regulation, skills that can be developed individually and collectively.

The Flows of Compassion

In Gilbert’s model, compassion exists in three interconnected flows, each are essential for wellbeing:

1. Compassion for Others – our ability to notice when someone else is struggling and to respond with care and understanding.
2. Compassion from Others – our capacity to accept care and support when we are struggling.
3. Self-Compassion – how we respond to ourselves during challenging moments, whether triggered by external events (like a specific incident), internal experiences (such as emotions, thoughts, or feelings), or a sense of personal failure. 

In a school context, these flows form a dynamic network that shapes the emotional health and wellbeing of the entire school community.

• When teachers offer compassion to students – by listening, adapting, or holding space for mistakes – they help pupils overcome challenges, low self-confidence, shame and self-criticism, and develop trust.
• When staff receive compassion from colleagues and leaders – through empathy, care, and shared understanding, they are better able to sustain their own wellbeing.
• When individuals practise self-compassion, they can recover more effectively from setbacks and maintain perspective in challenging situations

A compassionate school culture nurtures all three flows, recognising that everyone, students, teachers, leaders, and families, needs both to give and receive compassion to flourish.

Why Compassion Matters in Schools

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that compassion is not merely a moral ideal but a scientifically supported approach that enhances wellbeing and learning across educational contexts. 

• Neuroscientific research shows that compassion engages neural systems linked to soothing, caregiving, and affiliation, mechanisms that help balance the brain’s stress and threat responses (Klimecki et al., 2013; Lutz, Greischar, & Davidson, 2004). In essence, compassion activates the very systems that foster emotional regulation, safety, and connection. For schools, this has powerful implications: when both staff and pupils experience a sense of psychological safety and belonging, the conditions for learning, curiosity, creativity, and motivation naturally thrive.
• Research by Kristin Neff (2003) and Christopher Germer (2018) shows that self-compassion reduces anxiety, promotes resilience, and helps individuals cope and recover from challenges, essential qualities in both teaching and learning. Similarly, Jennings and Greenberg (2009) found that educators who cultivate emotional awareness and compassion create classrooms with lower stress levels, better relationships, and improved student outcomes.
• From an organisational perspective, Huppert and So (2013) identified compassion and empathy as core components of psychological wellbeing in schools, while Roeser et al. (2013) demonstrated that teachers trained in mindfulness and compassion-based practices experience less emotional exhaustion and greater professional efficacy.

Ultimately, compassion is not an “add-on”; it is the foundation of a psychologically safe, inclusive, and healthy-performing school culture.

If compassion is embedded into school life, what does this look like?

• Classrooms that emphasise connection before correction – where behaviour is understood as communication and where mistakes are treated as learning opportunities.

• Leadership teams that model emotional openness, support staff wellbeing, and promote shared reflection.
• Policies and procedures grounded in fairness and understanding, balancing accountability with empathy. Compassion in education thrives when supported by clear expectations and healthy boundaries, enabling care that is empathetic, balanced, and sustainable for both staff and students.
• Staffrooms where colleagues check in on one another, and vulnerability is met with care and kindness.
• Children and young people who feel safe, seen, and valued.

Embedding compassion throughout school life lays the foundation for a more relational and responsive approach, one that aligns naturally with the principles of humanisation in education.

Humanisation in Education: From Systems to Relationships

To humanise school services means putting relationships, understanding, and empathy at the centre of how we work with children, families, and colleagues. It involves recognising that behaviour, emotions, learning, and wellbeing are interconnected, and that behind every challenge lies a story and a narrative that deserves to be understood.

In a compassionate school, systems are designed to support people rather than manage problems. Humanisation starts with a shift in mindset: moving from “What’s wrong with this child?” to “What’s happened to this child?”, and ultimately to “What does this person need to feel safe, connected, and ready to learn?” 

When schools embrace this approach, every layer of the organisation, from classroom practice to leadership decision-making, begins to reflect compassion in action:

• Inclusive and relational support systems prioritise the child’s context and voice, recognising that progress depends as much on belonging and trust as on academic targets (Roffey, 2016).
• Pastoral and behaviour policies emphasise repair over punishment, using restorative conversations and emotion coaching to help pupils learn from difficulties and build resilience (McCluskey et al., 2019).
• Staff wellbeing structures create psychologically safe spaces for reflection, supervision, and peer support, acknowledging that educators cannot pour from an empty cup (Herman et al., 2020).
• Partnerships with families are grounded in listening, empathy, and collaboration, strengthening community trust and shared responsibility for children’s wellbeing.
• Leadership practices model compassion through transparency, curiosity, and care, valuing people’s emotions and experiences alongside performance indicators (Seligman, 2011; Roffey, 2021).

When services are humanised, schools evolve from systems of compliance into communities of care. Interactions become grounded in respect, acceptance, fostering trust and cooperation. In such environments, children feel safe to learn, teachers feel empowered to teach, and relationships not routines, form the heartbeat of the school.

Cultivating Compassion: A Call to Action

Cultivating compassion is not about adding another initiative to an already full plate, it is about changing the plate itself. It begins with small acts: taking a moment to listen, to pause before responding, to cultivate a non-judgmental approach, and assume positive intent. Over time, these micro-moments form the foundation of a compassionate culture.

Developing compassion is a skill. It requires intentional practice: slowing down, listening deeply, and responding with care even when time is short. Schools can nurture this through:

• Staff training in compassion focused and values-based approaches. Building awareness of one’s own emotions and responses enables educators to remain calm, and grounded, especially under pressure. 
• Reflective supervision and peer support. Providing regular spaces for staff to reflect on challenging situations helps normalise and validate emotional responses within an intrapersonal context, reduce isolation, and strengthen professional resilience.
• Curriculum initiatives that teach empathy, perspective-taking, and emotional literacy. Embedding compassion-based learning into PSHE, citizenship, and pastoral care encourages students to understand and manage emotions constructively.
• Leadership that promotes values and connection as much as compliance and outcomes.Compassionate leadership models openness, listens actively, and ensures that wellbeing is woven into school development priorities.

Compassion is courage in action. And when it flows through every level of a school, it truly becomes a superpower, one capable of transforming education from the inside out.

Exploring Imaginary Worlds in Autistic Children and Young People

Dr Kate Boyle’s doctoral research explores how autistic children and young people (CYP) experience Imaginary Companions (ICs) and Paracosms; complex and persistent imaginary worlds.

Key Findings from the Thesis Research

With just 8 participants we discovered over 100 ICs, 6 paracosms, and 18 personified objects.

Four core psychological themes emerged:

Control

Imaginary worlds offer predictability and autonomy which is especially important for CYP who may experience sensory or social unpredictability in daily life.

“It felt normal to me… I had control over it all.”

Connection

ICs provide companionship and reduce feelings of isolation, especially in contexts where social relationships may be challenging.

“Because I’ve got my imaginary friends, I never feel alone.”

Learning

Imaginary play mirrors real-life experiences, allowing CYP to process medical, emotional, or social situations through symbolic representation.

“I’ve got the same [medical needs]… so I help my dollies.”

Wellbeing

Imaginary worlds serve as emotional sanctuaries, helping CYP regulate anxiety, agitation, and stress.

“When I go into my imaginary world… I feel better.”

Why This Matters for Schools

Autistic CYP are often perceived as having limited imagination or creativity. This assumption can shape how we interpret their behaviour, plan interventions and engage with their interests. Kate’s research shows that:

• Autistic CYP can engage in rich imaginative play
• These experiences are emotionally meaningful, supporting wellbeing, learning and social connection
• Imaginary play can be a protective factor, helping CYP manage anxiety, loneliness and unpredictability

Understanding this helps school staff:

• Recognise imaginative play as a strength, not a symptom or deficit
• Use imaginative content to build rapport and understand emotional needs
• Avoid misinterpreting imaginative behaviours as signs of withdrawal or avoidance

This research reinforces a neurodiversity-affirming approach to education and psychology. Autistic CYP are not all lacking in imagination, while some may struggle in this area this research provides key evidence that some autistic CYP are able to engage in one of the most complex forms of imaginary play in childhood, suggesting significant strength in imagination rather than weakness.

 “It [my imaginary world] wasn’t unknown…I had control over it all.”

This quote from an 11-year old participant reflects how engaging with their paracosm can offer emotional safety, autonomy and empowerment – core needs for all children and especially for those navigating a neurotypical world.

Implications for Practice in Schools

This research invites educators to reframe imaginative play in autistic CYP as a strength rather than a deficit. Here’s how you can apply these insights:

• Ask about imaginary friends/worlds during pupil voice activities or wellbeing check-ins
• Engage with imaginative play as a window into emotional needs and coping strategies
• Use imaginative themes to support transitions, social stories, or therapeutic interventions
• Challenge outdated narratives about autism and creativity in staff training and policy
• Promote inclusive research and practice by valuing CYP’s lived experiences

Final Thought

Autistic children and young people in this research have been found to engage in the most complex forms of imaginative play, yet the research base overlooks this and focuses on differences and deficits. This is indicative of a wider research and societal problem in which autistic people are studied as subjects to understand impairments and differences in relation to typically developing people. Kate’s work highlights a serious gap in research, likely related to past research not being accessible for autistic individuals, and a powerful opportunity for schools to support autistic CYP in ways that are creative, compassionate, and evidence-informed.

How Can Educational Psychologists (EPs) Support?

EPs are well-placed to support schools in applying these insights:

• Promote strength-based approaches to autism that value creativity and individualism
• Model inclusive pupil voice practices, using imaginative play as a tool for engagement
• Support staff training on autism and neurodiversity-affirming language and approaches
• Facilitate reflective spaces for staff to explore how imaginative play can inform understanding of CYP’s internal worlds
• Design interventions that incorporate imaginative elements (e.g., narrative therapy, story-based social skills work)
• Advocate for participatory research and practice, ensuring autistic CYP are co-creators of their support plans

Kate is in the process of getting her exciting research published in an academic journal. Please do reach out if you would like to discuss her thesis research with her and what it helped us learn. 

Interested for more?

Watch Kate speak about her research on this episode of EP Reach Out.

What is Restorative Justice

If you consider the question, “What are we trying to teach young people when we discipline them?” you are likely to come up with responses like: accepting responsibility, discouraging the behaviour, developing empathy and self-regulation. 

Restorative Justice (RJ) is a relational approach to addressing harm and conflict that supports all of the answers above. Rather than focusing on punishment, RJ emphasizes repairing relationships, understanding perspectives, and restoring trust. 

A few key principles

• The focus is on: what happened; the effect of actions and words; the consequences of behaviour.
• The victim’s needs are considered whilst the perpetrator can repair harm without shame.
• The move towards resolution comes from the pupils themselves.

How to Use Restorative Justice

RJ can be used in schools through a range of practices, from informal conversations to structured conferences.  Although further training is needed to carry out RJ conferences there are 5 key RJ questions that can be easily used in any situation where harm has been caused by a playground altercation to a show of defiance in the classroom: 

What might this look like?

A child has repeatedly refused your instructions to stop pushing another student in the line.  You take this child out of the line and quietly ask the following questions, waiting for their responses.

• Can you explain to me what just happened whilst you were standing in the line?
• What did you think the other child would do when that happened?
• What did you think might have happened if you carried on?
• What emotions do you think could describe how you felt just then?  Were you excited or angry about something?
• How do you think the other child felt as you were doing that?  What do you think that was like for them?
• Shall we think about what we could do to make things better?
• What could you do differently next time we line up?

Notice that this conversation doesn’t include the word ‘why’.  Often the word ‘why’ places blame at someone’s door and expects the child to explain themselves leading to a ‘he said’,  ‘she said’ scenario or a feeling of unfairness.  These questions avoid blame whilst exploring both people’s feelings.  How do you think the child would respond differently if you had used ‘why’ instead of asking these questions?

Why It Works

RJ is effective because it aligns with how young people learn and develop emotionally and socially.

• Supports brain development and emotional regulation.
• Encourages emotional connection and empathy.
• Avoids a culture of fear and promotes openness.

Evidence has shown that RJ reduces exclusions, improves behaviour, and strengthens relationships.  It has also been found to support young people who act impulsively by modelling executive functioning and planning on how to approach a problematic situation. 

Does it work?

Restorative justice has a long and rich history and its creation is often attributed to Maori people in New Zealand and Indigenous people of Canada and USA.  These communities used systems based on the same values as RJ for hundreds of years to protect individual and promote social stability.  

To review the effectiveness of RJ in schools in current times a systematic review of many studies found that RJ can decrease exclusions, improved school climates, increased happiness and improved relationships between students and between students and teachers (Lodi, Perrrella, Lepri, Scarpa and Patrizi, 2021).

Reflective Thinking and Supervision

In education, no teacher works in isolation. Every classroom interaction, policy decision, and professional conversation is part of a larger, interconnected system. When we view teaching through a systemic lens, reflective thinking and supervision become not just personal tools for growth – but essential levers for whole-school transformation and wellbeing.

Reflective Thinking as a Systemic Practice

Reflection is more than self-evaluation—it’s a curious stance towards oneself and the systems around them. 

“I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious”
Albert Einstein 

Supervision as a Systemic Support Structure

Supervision, when viewed systemically, is not about oversight—it’s about co-creating meaning and direction.

Wellbeing and Burnout: A Systemic Concern

Burnout isn’t just an individual issue—it’s a systemic signal. When teachers are overwhelmed, it often reflects deeper misalignments in the system: unrealistic expectations, lack of voice, or disconnection from purpose. This can affect anyone working with the education system and especially those who care for others and hold leadership responsibility. 

From Reflection to Transformation

Systemic change doesn’t happen through top-down mandates—it grows from reflective, relational, and responsive practice. When teachers reflect systemically and engage in meaningful supervision, they become agents of transformation—not just in their classrooms, but across the whole school ecosystem.

Practical Tips for Systemic Reflection and Supervision

• Use systems maps: Visualise how your role and those you supervise connect to others. Where in the system can you see opportunities/ constraints when supporting staff with ‘stuckness’? 
• Ask systemic questions: What patterns am I part of? What stories are shaping this situation? Who else is affected by this problem? If this problem was not here
• Create reflective teams: Share insights across phases/ departments or roles and build staff’s capacity to create multiple perspectives in a situation. This leads to creativity in solution finding.  
• Design supervision for dialogue: Focus on meaning-making, not just performance.
• Link wellbeing to systems: Reflect on how structures support or hinder your staff’s energy and purpose.

Students with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs are among the most vulnerable in our school communities. They are disproportionately represented in exclusion statistics and their needs are often misunderstood.

When we take the time to listen to these students and promote their voice, we can uncover insightful strategies come from the students themselves. This article shares findings from a ‘Pupil Voice Project’ that captured the voices of 13 secondary students with SEMH needs, using participatory research methods and focus groups, across three secondary schools who shared what helps them thrive in school.

Their insights, grounded in psychological theory and best practice, can offer powerful and practical guidance for support.

Background

Research highlights students with SEMH needs struggle with trust, emotional regulation, and belonging. These challenges are often compounded in school systems. It is understandable that can teachers feel overwhelmed when faced with complex behaviour or emotional outbursts. But drawing on both psychological frameworks and the lived experiences and views of the students themselves, can support our understanding of supportive strategies.

Understanding Through Psychology

• Attachment and Trauma-Informed Approaches 
  Many students with SEMH needs have experienced disrupted attachments or trauma. Feeling safe and seen at school is essential. Teachers can act as secure bases, building trust through consistency and relational approaches.
  


• Self-Determination Theory 
  Autonomy, competence, and relatedness are key for motivation and wellbeing. When students feel they have choice, feel capable, and feel connected, they engage more. 
  


• Ecological Systems Theory 
  SEMH support must be holistic, involving collaboration between school, families, and wider systems. Whole-school ethos matters just as much as individual interventions.
  


• Pupil Voice in Practice 
  Despite their insights, pupils with SEMH needs are often the least heard. Yet research shows when we do listen, we uncover rich knowledge that improves practice and empowers students.
  

What Pupils Told Us (and What It Means for Practice):

Useful Resources:

AUDIT: Supporting Pupils with SEMH Needs

Infographic: Views of pupils with SEMH needs