In this article, the author reflects on findings from research on the role and impact of teaching assistants and experience of working as a special educational needs (SEN) officer. Research evidence suggests the reliance on teaching assistants to include pupils with Statements of SEN in mainstream settings masks a collective, though unintentional,…

This article reports on a two year project in which educational psychologists offered consultation to groups of teachers, to help them find solutions to school-based problems. Teachers were drawn from within individual schools and from across a number of schools. Typically, teachers were trained by educational psychologists in group consultation…

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to explore how support staff make sense of their experiences of assisting children with additional support needs in mainstream classes. Focussed and productive communication with the class teacher was perceived as being crucial to effective practice. A conclusion of this study is that absence of…

The Educational Psychology Service in this study has responsibility for providing group supervision to Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs) working in schools. To date, little research has examined this type of inter-professional supervision arrangement. The current study used a questionnaire to examine ELSAs' views on the…

Many students with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are identified by the medical community each year and many more experience head injuries that are not examined by medical personnel. School psychologists and allied consultants have important liaison roles to identify and assist these students post-injury. In this study, 75 school psychologists (the…

Despite embracing a bio-psycho-social perspective, the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) assessment framework has had limited application to date with children who have special educational needs (SEN). This study examines its utility for educational psychologists' work…

The study presents a statistical analysis of statements of special educational needs and Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) tribunal appeal rates in England and Wales. It is set against the backcloth of the 2014 Children and Families Act which replaces statements with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. The numerical overview…

The article welcomes the publication of the Progression Guidance 2009-2010 as an important milestone in the government's attempt to provide data to schools on how well children with special educational needs (SEN) are progressing. The materials hold the potential to enable school improvement partners, inspectors and educational psychologists to…

The use of Social Stories[TM] appears to be popular among educational psychologists (EPs) and other children's services professionals as an intervention for enhancing the social functioning of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). This article explores and evaluates the research evidence upon which this apparent popularity is based.…

This paper reports on a study which surveyed and interviewed teachers on their perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to the inclusion of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) pupils in school. The outcomes indicated that there was a silencing of diverse sexualities in schools. In theory, teachers had adopted an individual liberal humanitarian…

This article reflects on the potential benefits of applying systemic theory to the work of educational psychologists (EPs). It reviews developments in systemic thinking over time, and discusses the differences between more directive "first order" versus collaborative "second order" approaches. It considers systemic theories and illustrates their…

Legislation, literature and research have recently advocated the importance of establishing and representing the views of children and young people. This study aimed to establish how Educational Psychologists (EPs) in one authority ascertain and present children's views in written reports. Content analysis was undertaken on the pupils' view…

The nature of parental participation in children's education is changing rapidly. A growing body of research points to the positive effect that parental involvement has on outcomes of schooling and on children's well-being. This paper examines parental participation practices in terms of parents working together with a range of professionals,…

There are few studies that have directly examined teachers' perceptions of children with ADHD, particularly children in the adolescent age range. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of general-education ninth through twelfth grade teachers regarding working with adolescent students with ADHD. Sorted responses from a sample of…

The present study investigated a schools partnership program that has achieved an unusually high level of reintegration of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) from a special school to neighbourhood mainstream schools. The study explores, through a qualitative methodology, the perspectives of mainstream and special school staff. Factors…