Testimonials from our clients
What our clients are saying…
I have found the EP service provided by Psychology First to be incredibly helpful and supportive. Tamzin has supported me to be solution focused, and she has and given staff and parents time to talk about children, which they have really valued. Parents have told me that they have really felt listened to by Tamzin and they have felt that Tamzin has really understood them and their child. I am very grateful for Tamzin’s support, both for me as SENDCo and for the staff, children and families at our school. I would highly recommend the EP service provided by Psychology First.
Our EP Kristina has taken time to understand our school’s specific needs, and she has been responsive and flexible in her approach. Kristina’s professional skills are evident in the quality of assessments, the clarity of reports, and the practical, well-informed recommendations she gives us. We’ve found her to be both analytical and empathetic, and our collaboration with her has strengthened our SEND provision and enhanced our ability to support pupils and families more effectively. This year, Kristina delivered precision teaching training to all our support staff which has had a real impact. Her training was practical, clearly explained, and immediately useful in helping us boost pupil progress through targeted interventions. Working with Psychology First has given us a more structured and evidence-based approach to interventions, and we’ve also gained increased confidence among support staff in identifying and addressing learning needs more effectively, something we didn’t have to the same extent before their involvement. Psychology First offer a professional, approachable, and impactful service that genuinely supports both staff and pupils, and their input is practical and tailored to your school’s needs. Thank you so much!
It has been great to work with our link Educational Psychologist, Sarah (Rand) this year! It is so helpful to have regular and consistent access to her, and we have really valued the professional discussions and support she has provided us with across the year for whole school issues.
Our EP Georgina is very professional and the consultations we have with her are run very well. Parents and school staff feel listened to and understood, and the follow up records are provided in a timely manner. It is incredibly difficult to access EP support in Surrey, therefore working with Psychology First has been an invaluable investment for our school that is beneficial to the SEND team, teachers, parents and pupils. Thank you very much!
It has been absolutely brilliant working with Laura (Griffey) this year. I am impressed by her knowledge and competence, and it has been rewarding to be able to implement further support for families. Our school has particularly valued the teacher ‘drop-ins’ as all teachers came away with practical strategies to implement, and professional dialogues and liaison with Laura have helped me within the SENCo role. Psychology First services are invaluable and good value for money. I would 100% recommend them to other schools as their services have been a huge help to me and the school as a whole.
Chantelle is a great professional to work with. I appreciate the organisation that takes place prior to her visits, with the option for a pre-visit phone call or emails, to consider our priorities and the best way of meeting our needs. Chantelle has been really key in conversations with parents during joint home-school consultations. She is brilliant at reflecting on, and summarising pertinent points, to direct the meeting to next logical steps and ways forward, which all parties are in agreement with and feel comfortable and confident with. Chantelle has been supporting us during a period where we have not had access to a Local Authority EP Service. Her advice has been key in supporting us with the assess-plan-do-review process, and any subsequent applications for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for pupils with significant and complex additional needs. We really look forward to working with you more next academic year Chantelle!
It has been excellent working with Shin as our EP this year! She has helped us to identify key areas of development and put a strategic plan in place to implement actions to improve in these areas. Shin has approached all of this systemic work in a well-informed and non-judgmental way. She has shared her wealth of knowledge and expertise through consultation, as well as supporting staff to come to their own decisions and next steps on how to best meet our children’s needs. The service provided by Psychology First is bespoke and outstanding! I would encourage any school to work with them. All staff felt a huge amount was covered by Shin each day she came in to work with us, and it has been so refreshing to be able to put in some time to work in a preventative way. Comments from staff in our school after working with Shin have included, ‘I feel really inspired’; ‘I feel motivated’; ‘I can’t wait to try those ideas!’ Thank you so much Shin, we have thoroughly enjoyed working together with you in our school this year!
Our link Educational Psychologist William has been fantastic to work with again this year. The support and open discussion he has with our staff and parents is excellent and he is extremely prompt in returning completed records and action plans. It is brilliant to have access to some regular and consistent EP time over the year, and this has supported our requests for EHCNAs to the local Authority. Psychology First are a fantastic service to work with!
Our EP Tamzin is wonderful, and our parents, students and staff find her to be very intuitive, focused, knowledgeable and professional. Her reports are succinct, yet thorough and timely. She can get to the heart of a matter quickly and her strategies are excellent. We love working with her! Tamzin is friendly, responsive and professional. She brings a different perspective, and we now have happier parents and students. A massive thank you to Tamzin and Psychology First!
We have found working with Laura (Griffey) really helpful. It has been so useful to have the capacity for pupils to be observed, and our parents have very much valued the feedback consultation meetings with Laura. She has been very supportive to us as a school, and she has given us great input. Teachers have also found the opportunity for drop-in sessions with Laura really valuable, and they have quickly started work on some of the transition strategies that were discussed in the summer term. Laura's support and liaison with parents who have been struggling with home strategies for their children has been great. As a school, we have particularly valued being able to get some opinions and feedback on children who are not part of the EHCP process, as we are unable to access any advice or support for them currently via the LA. Thank you for your input and support Laura!
It has been brilliant working with Laura again this year. She is so approachable, knowledgeable, and supportive. I have particularly valued consultations as they have helped maintain and form positive relationships with parents and allowed for positive action planning. A ‘staff clinic’ allowed my staff to talk with Laura about a specific issue concerning them, and she gave them quick and easy ideas to use with their pupils. If you are thinking about working with Psychology First, then do it! You will find it incredibly beneficial for your pupils, but also for yourself as a SENCo. The services are good value for money, as the day allows me time to talk through any concerns I have and gain advice from Laura, in addition to the work we have planned for her. Thank you, Laura, for all your wonderful work again this year!
Our link EP Chantelle is always very responsive to the needs of our school, and we have a strong working partnership with her. We feel very well supported by Chantelle. This year, we have worked collaboratively with Chantelle to carry out Big Picture Consultations with teachers and parents for pupils whom we are concerned about attainment and progress and where we would like to explore any underlying needs. For some pupils we have followed this up with dynamic assessment so Chantelle can help us understand how the child learns best and what mediational strategies we should use in the classroom with them. Chantelle has also provided supervision for our Learning Mentor and some support for a newly qualified ELSA. Chantelle's input has supported us to request EHCNAs from the local authority successfully, and the consultation meetings between home and school have supported us in moving forwards with improving outcomes for pupils in the here and now. Working with Psychology First gives us access to EP support for pupils who otherwise wouldn't receive this through the Surrey LA offer. The Psychology First EP service is invaluable in helping us problem solve and unpick areas of difficulty for pupils and move things forward in terms of our provision and support to them. We look forward to working with you again next year Chantelle!
This is another year that Laura has provided a first-class EP service to our school. She is always flexible to our needs and professional throughout, offering much needed support to our staff and families for better outcomes for children. Because Laura is so experienced and flexible, we can change our plans for her visit the day before to meet a priority need in school. She works non-stop all day and fits in so much quality face-to-face work, as well as writing the reports before she leaves the building – Psychology First services are excellent value for money! It’s been a pleasure to work with Laura and each visit always enthuses me to put actions in place. Consequently, I will be contacting Psychology First for support as I move schools. I can’t think of a reason why schools would not budget for this service.
It has been great having Ciara working with us again this year. We always look forward to the days when she is due in and just wish we could have more of them! She is always responsiveness to the needs of the school and flexible to the changing demands. She has delivered a range of support during the year including consultations; teacher drop ins and staff training. She is very knowledgeable and shares a range of resources with us. She is flexible to the needs of the school and will always support with whatever is needed and she has built positive relationships with some of our harder-to-reach families. The support and advice provided by Psychology First is invaluable and we don't know what we did before we had their input. Thank you very much!
Laura (Griffey) is a fabulous and her input has allowed us to be strategic in supporting inclusion and SEND in our school. Our work together is always clearly mapped out according to our needs and her enthusiasm and professionalism allow us to be forward thinking and productive during the allocated time given. There is a measurable impact of Laura’s input, and a good example of this is the relationship approach, which is fully embedded within our school culture. Laura has also helped facilitate single sex groups and discussions around belonging. This is in addition to the advice around student and parent consultations. Having Laura as our consistent link EP is great as she has built strong relationships and knows the school well, which helps her be insightful and impactful. Laura is so valued at de Stafford School, and we are grateful that we have maintained her as our EP over the years as it has been truly beneficial to our SEND provision and practice.
Chantelle is great as our link EP! She is driven and professional and wants the best for the staff, children and families at our school. We really value the specific tailored advice and support that she provides for each individual pupil, nothing is generic! The pace and efficiency or her support is excellent. I would, and have, recommend Psychology First to other schools. Thank you, we are looking forward to working with you more next year!
Ciara is our link EP, and she is great, and her communication is effective. She has a very professional approach which is appreciated by our staff and parents. She has provided our school with recommendations and strategies for our SEND pupils, and she has supported our school well with staff training. We have also valued EP drop-in sessions with Ciara for our SCITT and ECT staff. We find Ciara to be an asset, and it is extremely helpful to have a consistent link EP who we can contact for advice when we need it!
We have a had very good experience this year working with William, and we have built an excellent professional relationship with him. The consultation model of service delivery has worked so well for us and we have been very happy with the content and speed of William’s reports. We look forward to continuing working with Psychology First again next year!
Shin is a fantastic EP, and we have developed a productive working relationship with her which helps us collaborate and make use of the Psychology First service incredibly well. Shin's flexibility, skills and support allow us to work with both families and on wider school initiatives. We have also really valued the professional, clinical supervision she has been able to provide key staff with, and we always find we can use her time flexibly to best meet the needs of our specific school context. The wide range of EP services and skills that Psychology First bring to our school are excellent! You can work closely with your link EP to support individual students, yourself professionally, and to implement whole school initiatives. Thank you for another great year! We really value the time we have with you Shin!
We have a great professional working relationship with our EP Kristina. She is known to staff and the children recognise her in our school. She is highly responsive to our school's needs, and she is always supportive. Kristina has a wide knowledge in her field, and she is creative in the way that she works with us, and we have really valued working together with her on strategic areas of need for our school. I would say to any other school they should absolutely work with Psychology First! The support provided by Kristina has been invaluable in so many ways. It has not only strengthened our overall SEND provision but also enables me, as the Inclusion Lead, to approach things with greater depth and impact! The biggest 'thank you' to Kristina!
William our EP is a very positive, organised and punctual professional. He has really good ideas, strategies and recommendations to share with our staff to best support our pupils. His follow-up records and reports have been thorough and efficient, and we have been able to use these for requests for statutory assessments to the local authority. William’s advice has always been given in a timely fashion, and he has been involved with lots of our children meaning our 'waiting list' has been cleared! I would highly recommend working with Psychology First and we are very happy to be working with you again next year!
Chantelle has been responsive to our needs as a school and she is always willing to work with our students and provide us with further consultation and individual assessment to give us information about how best to support the student, beyond what we already know. Chantelle’s support is adaptable and useful, and we value this extra view on the needs of our students. Thank you, Psychology, First!
We have really benefited from working with Psychology First again this year. Ciara’s support has been helpful, not only for meeting the needs of students and families, but also for the training and continuing professional development (CPD) of our staff. We’d love to continue exploring systemic and training input further from Ciara again next academic year. Thank you so much!
Our EP Kristina has been supportive and professional in my first year working as SENCo at the college. I was completely new to the role and Kristina has helped me understand processes, interventions, and she has shared insightful psychological understandings and approaches with me, which has been fantastic! All communication with Kristina has been positive, with regular meetings to check-in and work collaboratively. Together, we have grown the support and provision for students with SEND at Desborough through her working with students, running staff training, and parent workshops. The students and parents who have worked with Kristina, or who have attended workshops, have been extremely positive and grateful for her work. Kristina is always flexible and positive in her thinking and her work, finding the best solutions for the school and students. Thank you!
I have found the SENCo cluster days with our link EP to be really enjoyable and productive. It has been great to come together with colleagues to problem solve issues and concerns; share ideas and resources; and work on specific areas relevant to all of our schools in the trust.
Our EP, Georgina is great! We have developed a good relationship with her quickly, and we find her to be very needs led, flexible and creative around how we best use her time to support our school. The follow up records she provides have been extremely helpful in getting our provision and support right for our pupils in the here and now, and we have also been able to use them as evidence towards EHCP applications to the local authority. The support and advice that we have had is excellent and would not have been available or possible to get from our local authority service. Thank you, Psychology First!
I really value working alongside Laura who is always so knowledgeable and helpful. She is the EP over three schools, and her consultations with both staff and parents are consistently insightful and play a key role in developing strategies and providing further guidance to support the children effectively across each setting. At the start of the academic year, we experienced a critical incident within the school community, and Laura went above and beyond to support the team, helping staff navigate complex and sensitive decisions with care and professionalism. Laura’s ability to work alongside colleagues and parents in a calm, professional and solution-focused way has been incredibly helpful. In addition to providing day-to-day support, Laura also brings a strategic perspective that ensures we are planning effectively for the longer-term goals. Her input has made a real difference in ensuring that we meet the needs of our children in a thoughtful and joined-up way. Laura’s support has been consistently thorough, responsive, and well-tailored to our needs. Psychology First have provided invaluable support in understanding and addressing the learning, emotional, and behavioural needs of our children and young people across our schools. They have offered expert assessments and tailored interventions, that help identify barriers to learning and development, difficulties such as anxiety, low attainment, social skills, or special educational need and have supported us to create effective strategies to enable every child to reach their full potential. Thank you for all your help this year!
Our EP, Georgina, has been great! She has been able to traverse tricky situations with parents and support us to navigate a positive move forward with these families. She has provided us with thorough and comprehensive consultations, and follow-up records and reports, which have helped us gather evidence for EHCP requests and clear the backlog of children we need to make these requests to the local authority for. We have really valued being able to access an Educational Psychologist to discuss high need children, making plans for support and working with class teachers to come together and have meaningful professional discussions about strategies and provision. Thank you so much!
I want to sincerely thank Kristina for all the support that she has given me, and our school, over the past two years. As our consistent link EP, Kristina has been an invaluable resource in supporting our staff, parents and children, and also for my development professionally as a SENCo. I have learnt so much from Kristina!
Having an EP at our SENCO cluster meetings has provided great insight and ideas to support practise across schools. Sarah (Rand) has been a real support to our staff and families through her work with the children in our school. In consultations, it is wonderful to have the opportunity to share thoughts and ideas and for Sarah to provide us with psychological explanations about why children might be finding things difficult. Over this year, EP support has helped us increase our knowledge in school about Executive Functioning and EBSA. We highly recommend working with Psychology First!
The support from our Psychology First EP has been amazing! Laura has been so very helpful. I am new to role and have struggled to make sense of a lot of situations and Laura has helped me to unpick everything and find a way forward. Her support and advice for me has been invaluable. Alongside support for me, Laura’s help with children has been insightful and has given the school direction. I just want Laura to be at Hammond full time! If you are thinking about working with Psychology First, do it! They work differently to other EPs and are more insightful about the daily running of a school and its SEND provision.
This is the sixth year our school have worked with Psychology First. Chantelle and I have a fantastic relationship, she is always incredibly responsive and has shared many skills and strategies with me over the year. I have really valued working together with her on further developing our ordinarily available provision information, as well as our supervision together which has developed my own confidence in my leadership skills. The EP service provided by Psychology First is very beneficial for individual pupil support but also for helping to problem solve any whole class or small group issues, as well as for provided staff training and supervision. I’m looking forward to working with you more Chantelle!