• Consultancy support and advice to schools on approaches and provision.

• Advice, materials, programmes and support for teachers in the management of children and young people with particular needs (including the very able) with particular emphasis on problem-solving approaches.

• Support for the development of appropriate Individual Education Plans and Pastoral Support Programmes for individual pupils

• Assessment of the needs of children and young people.

• Interventions, including short-term trial teaching and work with children with behavioural difficulties.

• Work with the families and carers of young people referred to the Service.

• Review of children’s progress, including school-requested reviews of Statements of SEN.

• Verbal and written feedback/reporting following an intervention.

• Off-site teaching at PRUs.

• Work with pre-school children, their parents and providers.

• Work with children and young people who are looked after by the Local Authority.

• Statutory assessment and LEA-requested assessments and reviews.

• Extended specialist teaching and interventions (learning and behaviour).

• Fixed-term involvement by specialist support assistants (literacy and behaviour).

• Fast responses to urgent cases.

• Highly specialist responses to very complex cases.

• Support for schools’ development projects.

• Special group-focused activities (behaviour and learning).

• Interagency collaboration.

• Support for schools with significant difficulties.

• Critical Incident Support.

• Support for children with specific and complex difficulties and their schools and units.

• Support for children placed out of the County.

• Support for children with autistic spectrum disorders and for the development of provision.

• Support for inclusive learning, including computer assisted learning and instrumental enrichment.

• The development of approaches for pre-school children, including for transition into school.

• Development of new approaches to addressing learning and behavioural difficulties.

• Development of support systems for children who are looked after by the Local Authority.

• Development of support for refugee children.

• Professional contribution to SEN monitoring.

• Activities to ensure the quality of Psychological Service work.

• Support for school/Department data analysis.

• Standards Fund activities including the Secondary/Primary Behaviour Forums.

• Other Education Development Plan activities (e.g. activities to help develop pupil involvement, attitude and self-esteem and activities to support very able children).

• Activities to enhance teacher and support assistant skills (e.g. OCR course on teaching children with dyslexia, University of Leicester courses on inclusive practice, collaborative work with the Advisory Service on training in behaviour management).

• Other activities to support the Department’s priorities, e.g. developing a strategy on bullying.

• Interagency planning.

• Regular contact within a maximum time allocation framework involving advice, programmes, assessments and short-term interventions (‘Level 1’ interventions).

• Access to a range of 'Level 2' activities on a needs-led basis.

• Access to a range of 'Level 3' activities on a needs-led basis.

• At Level 1, maximum time allocation is derived from a formula based on indices of need (numbers of pupils on roll; free school meals; reading and mathematics scores) and its use is subject to negotiation between the SST and the school, though with some priorities being LEA-defined (e.g. work with pupils at risk of exclusion).

• Levels 2 and 3 work is initiated through allocation by Area and Service Management Teams based on need.

Reporting on the use of time

• Termly reports on the amount of time used from the Level 1 time allocation.

• Summaries of time used on Level 2 and 3 activities.

• An annual summary of the main ways in which time has been used during the year at all levels of service delivery. This will be in the form of hours and the percentages expended on main categories of work.

• One of the key reasons for revisions to the Service’s method of delivery is to allow faster and more flexible responses to urgent or complex issues. Schools which have need of such responses can seek Level 2 or 3 support through their School Support Teams or, if necessary, directly from the Area Management Team.

• The School Support Team is the main route for communication between the Service and schools. Additionally, where appropriate, schools can communicate directly with the Area Management Team or the Head of Service.

• In all its work the Psychological Service is committed to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and conduct. Schools can expect that:

• Code of Professional Practice, SST Guidelines, Stage 3 Criteria and Complaints Policy

• The Psychological Service is one part of the support to schools provided by the Education Department. As such, members of staff undertake to help to facilitate a Departmental response to any concern the school may have about educational or childcare matters.

• If schools feel that the nature, amount or standard of service does not meet the assurances given here, they are encouraged to discuss those concerns with a member of the Service.

• Unless felt inappropriate by the complainant, the first point of contact should be with the School Support Team or one of its members. Members of the SST are encouraged and empowered to deal with any issues within their remit and to ensure that other issues are brought to the attention of Service managers.

• If it is inappropriate to discuss concerns with the SST or the SST is unable to address the concerns, schools are asked to communicate directly with a member of the NPS Area Management Team. A prompt response is guaranteed.

• If schools feel that the concern is not addressed locally or is of a very serious nature, they are asked to communicate directly with the Head of Service who will ensure that the complaint or concern is addressed and a response made.

• If this process does not resolve concerns, complaints can be directed through the Department’s formal complaints procedure.

• Contact points are given in the appendix.

• In order to provide the best service to children and their families, it is important that at the point of referral all relevant information is given. The referral form is a relatively brief document whereby one professional seeks the involvement of another.

• Similarly, if after referral the child’s circumstances change, it is requested that the Psychological Service is apprised of those changes in advance of the child being seen.

• Regular planning meetings between the SST and school have been introduced as an integral part of our framework. Within the arrangements stated, the time does not come from the school’s allocation.

• Each SST has a planning framework document. Negotiation with the school about the actual pattern of the meeting is encouraged.

• The Service works closely to the spirit and letter of the SEN Code of Practice and assumes in its work that this is also the practice of schools.

• The involvement of parents/carers in discussion and decisions about their children is vital. The Psychological Service requires that any referral of a child is made with the full knowledge and consent of the parents/carers and that parents are invited by the school (unless otherwise agreed) to all meetings to discuss the child.

• The Authority is committed to reducing exclusions from school, to supporting schools and to ensuring the process of exclusion is handled sensitively. Schools are asked to:

• The Psychological Service is a finite resource which we wish to use to maximum effectiveness. Schools are asked to notify the relevant member of the SST immediately if a child is going to be absent or unavailable at the time of a planned visit; Service personnel will notify schools at the earliest opportunity if they must unavoidably change an appointment.

  Appendix