In this Issue:

UCL Ed Psych Twitter account!

Thanks to the many students, graduates and other members of the UCL Educational Psychology community who have followed us since we launched our Twitter account 1 year ago. For those who have not yet done so, don't forget to follow us at @ucledpsych!

Time for a Coffee Break?

The latest edition of Coffee Corner by our in-house coffee expert Dr Phil Stringer is here! Click here for Phil's guide on brewing the perfect filter coffee.

Your news and views are always welcome - please send us your comments

Autumn/Winter 2017

New Faces and Graduations within the Group

In September 2017 we were joined by our twelfth cohort of Doctorate in Educational & Child Psychology trainees, as well as new Academic & Professional Tutors Dr Sinead Neal, Dr Tim Jones and Dr Simon Ungar, and Practice Tutors, Dr Sara Freitag and Dr Emma Goldstone. We also welcomed our new Research Methods Lecturer Dr Ravi Das, and Group Administrator Alice Tucker. A warm and now very belated welcome to our new members of staff as well as our eighteen new (now not so new!) 17-20 cohort trainees - Rhiannon April, Roisin Byrne, Lisa Carmody, Marco Cheng, Imogen Cuckson, Adebola Fasusi, Amanda Gaukroger, Steffanie Ho, Martha Keogh, Kate Lake, Kate Llufrio, Rose McGeown, Gabrielle Selcoe, Emma Stacey, Emma Setchell, Kathryn Velat, Sarah Wendland and Joyce Wu.

July 2017 saw another round of festivities on the DECPsy programme with our class of 2014-17 completing the course and launching their careers as fully-qualified EPs. The group are pictured right in that iconic 'on the steps' last day pose and continued the celebrations later that day with a DECPsy leavers cake, some very well-deserved prosecco and a fun and trivia filled end-of-programme party. Congratulations to Drs. Allen, Benson, Driver, Kitson, Moses, Moss, Musgrave, O'Callaghan, Osei, Petersson, Powell, Ryng, Steytler, Wraight and Wright! Click here for the party photos from the group, enjoying an extremely well deserved moment of celebration!

On Friday 8th September we were delighted to welcome back many of the previous 12 months' DECPsy and DEdPsy graduates for the Educational Psychology graduation ceremony. Some of our DECPsy 13-16 graduates (Drs. Tracey Atkins, Nikki Collingwood, Suriya Daya, Polly Grant, Pamela Hamilton, Rheanne Jalali, Jemma Levy, Lacretia Loke, Izzy McDonald, Abigail Miranda, Kim O'Connor, Brigid O'Leary, Amy Phipps, Cara Southworth and Rachel Standen) are pictured left with Programme Director Prof Sandra Dunsmuir. Click here to view further images from the day. Congratulations all!

Pictured right (and here) are some of our most recent DEdPsy graduates with Programme Director Dr Susan Birch, and Academic and Professional Tutor Dr Tony Cline. Congratulations to Drs. Eileen Devitt, Cordelia Garrelts, Orlaith Griffin, Katharine Sharpe and Elizabeth Taylor!

On behalf of the whole EP Group team, a huge congratulations to all of our recent graduates!

Personal News

As ever, we have heard of some exciting personal news in the Group!

Firstly, congratulations to DECPsy 2014-17 course member Vale Troya-McCann on the birth of Benjamin David this past July. Benji is four months old now, and Vale says he is thriving and a joy to be around. See left for a photo of Benji! Vale will be re-joining the DECPsy course in the 2015-18 cohort next year.

More baby news from the DECPsy 2014-17 cohort next, as graduate Dr Fiona Ryng gave birth to Indie Bláithín Ryng Neil on the 7th September 2017. Indie was born at 7lbs 7ozs and is doing very well. Indie is pictured right - congratulations Fiona!

Our next baby news comes from DECPsy 2010-13 graduate Dr Chantal Corbett and her partner Paul, who welcomed their daughter into the world in July 2017. Matilda is pictured left in a 'Future Psychologist' onesie gifted by one of Chantal's colleagues, holding up her first swimming badge for completing chapter 1 of Water Babies! Click here for more photos of Matilda!

Congratulations also go to DEdPsy 2017 course member Lucy Harding on the birth of her daughter Eirlys Rose, who arrived on the 11th October 2017. See left for a lovely photo of baby Eirlys!

Wedding news next, from DECPsy 15-18 cohort member Ruki Weerasinghe who tied the knot in Summer 2017. Nelesh and Ruki got married in July at the historic and wonderfully quirky Victoria Baths in Manchester. The couple had a fusion ceremony, with Buddhist and Hindu influences, followed by a big party in the evening. It was a fun, colourful day surrounded by family and friends who attended from all around the world. Congratulations Mr & Mrs Dhand!

Congratulations also go to DEdPsy 2014 cohort member Laura Dunstan, who became Mrs Laura Dawson in the Summer. Laura and Gav were married in Greece in August 2017. The couple met in 2003, when Laura was taking her Masters in Educational Psychology at UCL - see left for a photo of their big day!

Sports news next - watch out 'Swim-Run' is coming! Academic and Professional Tutor, Dr Juliet Starbuck took part in the inaugural Holy Island (Anglesey) Swim-Run race in September 2017. Juliet and her Swim-Run partner ran and then swam and then ran and then swam (and so on) along the coast of Holy Island for about 21km - the terrain was tough and the sea was very, very rough, so much so that many of the competitors didn't finish the full course. But Juliet and Sarah did (tied together) and so won the second place trophy! Roll on next year....

Publications and Research

Congratulations to our DECPsy and DEdPsy graduates on the following recent publications:

DEdPsy 2013 course member Abi Bangerter has recently had a paper published (see below) on the Autism Behavior Inventory (ABI), a parent reported rating scale that Abi and the other authors developed for measuring change in response to intervention in ASD. A second paper reporting on its validation in a larger study is currently under review. This is part of a wider brief by a team at Janssen Research and Development, who are developing a set of tools and technologies to use as outcome measures in ASD. Abi has worked with the team since moving to the US part-way through her DEdPsy studies. The ABI is available for use free of charge in small intervention studies, with a plan to make it more widely available for future use.

Abi Bangerter (DEdPsy 2013 course member) - Bangerter, A., Ness, S., Aman, M. G., Esbensen, A. J., Goodwin, M. S., Dawson, G., Hendren, R., Leventhal, B., Khan, A., Oplet, M. Harris, A. & Pandina, G. (2017). Autism Behavior Inventory: A Novel Tool for Assessing Core and Associated Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology Vol 27, 9. DOI 10.1089/cap.2017.0018

Dr Rheanne Jalali (DECPsy 13-16 graduate) - Jalali, R. & Morgan, G. (2017). 'They won't let me back.' Comparing student perceptions across primary and secondary Pupil Referral Units (PRUs). Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties. DOI 10.1080/13632752.2017.1347364

Conferences and Events

On Thursday 23rd November 2017, Professor Dino Petrides gave his inaugural lecture titled "20 Years of Trait Emotional Intelligence". Inaugural lectures offer recently-appointed professors the opportunity to show their activity and research to the wider UCL community. Dino introduced some basic theoretical ideas and key research findings from the trait emotional intelligence programme, as it approaches its 20th anniversary. In the talk, Dino presented personal perspectives and anecdotes from his career and the development of the trait emotional intelligence programme over the years, its reach and its collaborators over the world. Dino spoke about how he came to work at UCL, and how we almost lost him to Oxford University! He flew over to the UK for PhD interviews at Oxford University and UCL. The interviewer at Oxford recommended that he should take the position at UCL, when they learned that Professor Norah Frederickson and Professor Adrian Furnham would be his supervisors! He also spoke upon applications of trait emotional intelligence theory within academic research settings. Further details on the Psychometric Laboratory can be found at www.psychometriclab.com.

Hannah Lichwa (DECPsy 15-18 cohort member) spoke at the “Class of 2020” event at Roehampton University on the 14th October 2017. Class of 2020 is a sustained engagement academic enrichment widening participation programme in celebration of the 175th anniversary of the University of Roehampton. The programme seeks to raise the achievements and aspirations of 175 young women from widening participation backgrounds, as well as celebrate the history and heritage of the University of Roehampton. There were different groups running on the day, and Hannah was (of course!) in the Psychology session. Hannah spoke to 3 different groups about the role of an Educational Psychologist, training to become an EP, and her personal experience as to how she has followed this career path. Those attending the event were 15/16 year old Year 11 girls from schools around London, who were selected by members of staff at their schools. A stated goal of the programme is that all Class of 2020 participants will enrol at Roehampton (or another university of their choice) in 2020. Participants who successfully complete all aspects of Class of 2020, who take part in COMPASS (the University of Roehampton Compact Scheme) and who enrol at Roehampton as a first year undergraduate will be eligible for a £500 scholarship in their first year of studies. Further information on the Class of 2020 programme can be found here.

Throughout December there has been a range of seasonal programme events, including our DECPsy trainee party on 13th December, the DECPsy London courses trainee party on 8th December (invitation pictured left!), a Tutor Team Development Day which included a trip to The Foundling Museum, the 6th December DEdPsy workshop (topic - 'Depression and self harm in adolescence: redefining the EP role') and the 5th December mini conference including a DEdPsy group meal. Click here to see some photos from these events!

We also look forward to welcoming our twentieth cohort of 12 new course members onto the DEdPsy Programme in January 2018!

Come and meet members of the Surrey Educational Psychology Service team in an informal setting and learn more about the exciting work, initiatives and opportunities they have going on in Surrey, including Cygnets, ELSA, dynamic assessment and the Friends programme. All are welcome! The event will be taking place on Friday 19th January from 2-4pm at County Hall, Kingston Upon Thames. Click here to see further details about the event!

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