Educational Psychology Service

The Educational Psychology Service is a group of educational psychologists who work within our Children and Young People's Services Directorate. The service is funded by the council and is available to all schools and nurseries within the city and to children whose home address is within the Stoke city boundary. We also visit early years settings such as pre-schools and playgroups when children are identified as having possible special needs.
 
Our aim is to help schools/settings, parents/carers and the local authority to identify, assess and advise on the needs of children and young people with special educational needs. Referrals to our service come from two main places:

• in the case of young children this would be from the Health Services through the Pre-school Assessment Forum
• for other children and young people through their school or setting. 

Parents of children in school can ask about a referral to the Educational Psychology Service but the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator or headteacher decides and prioritises this on the basis of need and with regard to the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice 2001.
 
Before referral to our service those working with the child in their school or setting will have shown they have tried a number of approaches that have not been successful. In every case across the age range a child cannot be referred to the Educational Psychology Service without parental permission.

To find out more about what we do please follow the links on the left hand side of this page.