Psychological Service

What we do

As a Community Authority, West Dunbartonshire Educational Services Department has established social inclusion as a key principle of its service delivery. The Department provides a number of specialist services that assist schools and Early Years Centres in supporting pupils who have a wide range of needs.

The Psychological Service is part of these specialist services within the Educational Services Department. It is a statutory provision for children and young people aged 0 to 24 years including those who have additional support needs.

The strategic purpose of the Psychological Service is to apply psychological knowledge, skills and expertise to contribute to the Council’s policy and practice in meeting the needs of children and young people in relation to their learning, behaviour and development.

Our Service Standards

PDF: Psychological Service Standards (116 KB)

The training of an Educational Psychologist takes at least 9 years and covers all aspects of child development and learning. Educational Psychologists require to be chartered with the British Psychological Society.

Educational Psychologists are expected to have:

• Knowledge of child development.
• Knowledge of particular learning and/or social and emotional difficulties that can arise.
• Knowledge of a range of developmental conditions.
• Knowledge of approaches to learning which enable children and young people to develop fully.
• Skills in the analysis of problems and in problem-solving at various levels: the child, the family, the school and the community.
• Skills in counselling and solution focused approaches.
• Skills in research and evaluation.

The Educational Psychologist and relevant staff of the school or Centre annually negotiate and agree the service delivery priorities, which can include any of the core tasks such as consultation, assessment, staff development or research. A service delivery agreement is formalised and a Record of Service Delivery is completed after each visit to the establishment.

A Request for Involvement of the Educational Psychologist should be made formally by the school or Early Years Centre by completion of the relevant document. When this has been completed, discussion with the Psychologist will identify the appropriate response e.g. a consultation meeting with parents etc, an Inset for staff, advice only etc.

At a Consultation Meeting the Educational Psychologist chairs and completes the relevant document and circulates it to all who attended the meeting. Written permission to exchange information with other agencies is sought from the parents/carers and where appropriate from the young person. If an assessment has been carried out the Psychologist provides a report for the parents and distributes this to relevant personnel as agreed with the parent.

Contact Details