Leading Edge Psychology Days

Our annual UCL Leading Edge Psychology Day is organised on behalf of practitioner psychologist students on the UCL DEdPsy programme and usually takes place during March. The event is open to all EP practitioners across the country. Focusing on topical areas of EP practice, Leading Edge Days are led by nationally known keynote speakers and innovative practitioners, incorporating both research and practice components.

Previously Held Leading Edge Days

To access slides and information from previously held Leading Edge Day Psychology days please click on the topic you are interested in below:

Extended School Non-Attendance: Theoretical and Practical Implications for Educational Psychologists

Hardly a day seems go by without some reference to the dire state of attendance in schools, particularly since the pandemic. For EPs, of course, a significant part of our role relates to the needs of children and young people experiencing extended non-school attendance. This day will be the usual mixture of up-to-date research and how it informs practice.

Speakers included: Dr David Heyne, until recently was associate professor in the unit Developmental and Educational Psychology of the Institute of Psychology at Leiden University, and now has his own company, Excellence in Attendance Support. He is a founder member of the International Network for School Attendance. He is the world’s leading researcher in this field. Professor Caroline Bond, Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, is making a major contribution to extended non-school attendance through theory and practice and through supporting TEP research projects. Dr Adele Tobias, Brighton and Hove Educational Psychology Service, has developed the research-based ATTEND framework, which has been adopted by a number of local authorities. Dr Matthew Fletcher is an educational psychologist in Wirral Council. His doctoral research explored the use of robotic telepresence technology to support pupils who experience extended school non-attendance. He has published three papers about this technology and its UK applications. Currently, he is co-developing a local authority pilot project which includes schools trialling the AV1 device to support education re-engagement.. Dr Jerricah Holder, Educational Psychology Service, West Sussex and EBSA Horizons, has developed and offers training on EBSA, and is the author of the School Wellbeing cards.

Children and young people growing up in poverty: what can educational psychology contribute?

In 2016 Psychologists Against Austerity wrote a briefing paper outlining the ‘damaging psychological costs of austerity policies’. Their report summarised five ‘Austerity Ailments’, ways in which austerity policies impact specifically on mental health: humiliation and shame; fear and distrust; instability and insecurity; isolation and loneliness and the experience of being trapped and powerless (p.1). Since then we have lived through a global pandemic which has exacerbated existing health and social inequalities (Marmot, 2020) and we are now in the context of a cost-of-living crisis. Given research findings highlighting the impact of poverty on children’s development (Cooper & Stewart, 2021; Shonkoff & Garner, 2012), alongside systemic impacts, what should educational psychologists being doing to support this agenda; how can we work with our communities, schools and families to improve the experiences of those we work with? This conference will provide participants with a chance to hear about theory and up-to-date research around the impact of poverty on children and young people and their families, so that they can contribute to debates around social justice and can develop practice in the profession and in their working contexts.

Thank you to all of our speakers on the day: Professor Monica Lakhanpaul, an academic researcher and practising paediatric consultant and currently a Professor of Integrated Community Child Health at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health; Jake Anders, an associate professor and deputy director of the UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities (CEPEO), and a principal investigator of the COVID Social Mobility & Opportunities (COSMO) study; Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington, an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological & Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics, a Faculty Affiliate of the LSE International Inequalities institute, and Associate Editor at the British Journal of Psychology; Matt Easterbrook, a Reader in Social Psychology at the University of Sussex and founding member of POSCUPI, a collaboration between UK psychologists who examine the policy and practice implications for the psychology of social class; Marc Pescod, an Educational Psychologist who works with Centrepoint (UK’s leading charity for homeless young people) and the remaining time at the London Borough of Havering and Joanna Stanbridge, a Senior Educational Psychologist working with Cambridgeshire County Council with a lead role across the county for Cognition and Learning..

Gender Diversity: what do EPs need to know and what can they do?

A major emphasis in the work of educational psychologists is on inclusion and how psychology can contribute to inclusive educational policies and practices. Across the last decade awareness has grown that educational psychologists need to embrace a broader conceptualisation of inclusion. While traditionally inclusion has focused on special educational needs and disabilities, and ethnicity, the increase in children and young people questioning their gender identity means that EPs need to consider the implications of gender inclusion and gender inclusive practices. This is important work for EPs. There is awareness of the psychological distress and damage that can be caused when children and young people with additional needs do not experience a sense of belonging or, for example, are subject to racist or homophobic bullying. Equally, there is substantial evidence about the high rates of psychological distress that can be experienced by young people with concerns about their gender identity. This day is designed, therefore, to examine thinking and practice about gender diversity and gender inclusion, the implications for EP work and, particularly, what EPs can do to support staff in educational settings that may be uncertain about how best to act.

Thank you to all of our speakers on the day: Dr Jay Stewart MBE co-founded Gendered Intelligence in 2008 and is its CEO. Professor Gary Butler is Consultant in Paediatric & Adolescent Medicine and Endocrinology at University College Hospital in London. Sam Beal, a Partnership Adviser for Health and Wellbeing with Brighton and Hove City Council. Ryan Gingell is a Project Manager with Allsorts Youth Project, based in Brighton. Dr Cora Sargeant is an Educational Psychologist in Wiltshire and also an Academic and Professional Tutor for the initial EP training programme at the University of Southampton. Jenna Read is a trainee educational psychologist at the University of Southampton.

Children and young people in the digital age: what do EPs need to know?

The Children’s Commissioner report ‘Growing Up Digital’ (January 2017) and the EU Kids Online Final Report (Livingstone et al., 2011) highlight what are now familiar statistics relating to increases in children and young people’s use of the internet and social media. Alongside these statistics sit headlines in the media which highlight society’s concerns about children and young people becoming addicted to online life, being bullied, exposed to violence, pornography and user-generated content, as well as the risks of being groomed or contacted by adults masquerading as a ‘new friend’. While schools are now promoting safer internet use and supporting children to think about their digital profiles, are we going far enough in educating children to be able to make the best and safest use of the digital resources available to them? What role should parents play? How do our values relating to supporting children’s rights sit alongside the need to keep them safe? Are our assessments of the risks realistic, or has access to international media fuelled anxieties about children and young people’s safety? Could concepts such as digital resilience and digital citizenship be useful in making a difference for children and young people? While as EPs we may have a broad range of psychological theories to bring to this area, how confident are we in giving advice to children, young people, their families and school staff on this most topical issue? This well attended day brought together leading researchers in the field who are actively examining the implications of the digital age for children and young people.

Keynote speakers included Professor Sonia Livingstone (Professor of Social Psychology in the Dept. of Media and Communications at LSE), Dr Tom Harrison (Senior Lecturer & Programme Director for the MA in Character Education at the University of Birmingham), Dr Becky Inkster (Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge), Elizabeth Charles (Senior EP at NEPS) and Teresa Thornton (EP at NEPS).

What does resilience mean for educational psychologists? Concepts and applications

Educational psychologists are not alone in frequently appealing to the concept of resilience. It often forms part of a psychological perspective on a child or young person’s circumstances and may contribute to recommendations about approaches to improving those circumstances. At the same time there are a growing number of commercially available preventative programmes being used in schools, which aim to strengthen resilience. Many of these are promoted if not delivered by educational psychologists. In the undoubted appeal of the concept, there is a tendency to overlook clarity about what it means because of a blurring between every day talk about resilience and perspectives on resilience emanating from research. The risk, then, is the assumption that in discussion, little more is required than the word itself. What happens, though, when we scratch the surface? Do we know and more particularly, do our service users know, what we mean when we talk about resilience? This successful and extremely well attended day examined current research, considered the concept of resilience and how that concept is used by EPs in practice.

Keynote speakers included Professor Sir Michael Rutter (consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital and Professor of Developmental Psychopathology), Professor Ingrid Schoon (UCL Institute of Education and the Social Science Centre Berlin), Tony Mancini (Witherslack Group and Focus Psychology), Anne Peake (Oxfordshire Children’s Services) and Marc Chevreau and Pauline Wigglesworth (Blackpool Educational Psychology Service).

Please click here to access presentations from the day.

Austerity: How Should Educational Psychology Respond?

This Leading Edge Day asked the question "How should educational psychology be responding to the consequences of a national policy of economic austerity?" There is a distinction to be made between the personal response (which may be political) and the professional one which involves acquiring knowledge of the evidence on the psychological impact of low socioeconomic status and the most effective forms of educational and psychological intervention in a context of significantly reduced resources. This successful Leading Edge Day sought to present current evidence on the cognitive and social impact of being a child in a poor family, to identify interventions which have had demonstrable impact with minimal resource requirements and to enable all participants to develop an assertive and positive professional response to the challenges presented by austerity to schools, children, young people and families.

Keynote speakers included Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington (Assistant Professor of Social Psychology at the LSE and visiting researcher to the Department of Psychology at the University of Oslo), Sherria Hoskins (Head of Psychology at Portsmouth University) and James Richardson (Senior Analyst at the Education Endowment Foundation, an independent grant-making charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement).

Please click here to access presentations from the day.

Educational Psychologists and Infant Mental Health

Despite a history within Child Guidance clinics, the profession of educational psychology has, particularly in the past year, been focused primarily on the implementation of the SEND reforms. However, the mental health agenda has continued to call to us. A clear rationale for our work in this area is provided by the current context, with the work around the parity between physical and mental health the recognition of mental health needs within the new SEND Code of Practice, and increased awareness of the connection between emotional wellbeing and learning outcomes. Even more recently, and building on the prevention and early intervention initiatives, a number of strands have led to the identification of perinatal and infant mental health as areas in which commissioners now need to focus.Whilst a recent focus has been on work with young people 16+, given that an EP's responsibilities start from birth, it is important to maintain close attention to advances in understanding infant mental health. The focus of infant mental health is on the optimal social and emotional development of infants and toddlers within the context of secure, stable relationships with caregivers (Zeanah & Zeanah, 2001). This includes within-child factors, caregiver-infant relationships and environmental factors. Is there then a role for EPs? Over recent years EPs have strongly embraced attachment theory as a basis to inform many aspects of their work.

This extremely popular Leading Edge day provided an opportunity for practising EPs to hear about current theory and practice from internationally renowned researchers and innovative practitioners in the field of attachment and infant mental health, to consider the implications of theory and research for the promotion of mental health and well-being across the life span, and to learn about possibilities for intervention in this area. Keynote speakers included Professor Pasco Fearon, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology and joint Director of the UCL Doctorate Programme in Clinical Psychology, Professor Jane Barlow, Professor of Public Health in the Early Years at Warwick University, Dr Paul Ramchandani, Reader in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Imperial College and Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Dr Shami Rait, Senior Educational Psychologist in Buckinghamshire and Penny Rackett, Educational Psychologist and Advanced VIG Supervisor in Suffolk.

Please click here to access presentations from the day.