01785 616081
Psychological Services for Schools
Supporting the wellbeing and development of children and staff in educational settings
At Abacus Psychology we are passionate about supporting the emotional wellbeing and development of children and staff in educational settings.
We specialise in mental health, Autism and Learning Disability to offer a range of psychological services for children, parents, staff and senior leadership across mainstream, alternative education and special school settings. We are committed to providing evidence based psychological services to provide high-quality, bespoke psychological solutions whatever your need.
Our model recognises that a commitment to improving the mental health and well-being of pupils and staff can require a number of supports at various levels within an organisation. Each of our carefully focused levels of support underpins the next and helps to build a sustainable and effective approach to mental health and well-being for both pupils and staff.
We recognise that each organisation may require more or less support at different levels. We will work with you collaboratively to identify where focus for your setting will be most helpful and tailor interventions to suit the needs of your organisation.
Our Model of Support
We are able to adopt a whole-school approach to support the mental health, well-being and development of pupils and staff, with the flexibility to intervene at various levels depending on the specific needs of your establishment. Each element of our model plays a role in increasing the skills, knowledge and support available to staff and pupils.
The elements at the base of the model represent interventions designed to have the broadest impact across the school to benefit both pupils and staff. The higher points of the model represent more direct focussed interventions to support the emotional wellbeing, mental health and developmental needs of pupils and work with staff supporting them.
Our Services
Direct Assessment and Intervention
All of our staff are experienced in working with children and young people. We offer direct psychological assessment and interventions for a range of mental health, behaviour and developmental concerns. We can also provide individual or group programs to address the identified needs of pupils.
Child-Focused Consultation
We understand that education providers often care for children and young people with complex needs which are both distressing for the individual and present challenges to those supporting them. At Abacus Psychology we can offer focused assessment and consultation with key staff to facilitate understanding of a pupil's needs and support their work with pupils. We can work in partnership to develop and deliver effective support plans for pupils with varying complex needs.
We can offer a range of models to meet this aim dependant on school preference. For example, the development of pupil welfare forums, staff consultation groups, individual staff consultations and “Pastoral Peers” Group, This is a regular group bringing pastoral staff from various providers to meet and benefit from psychologically supported consultation and support.
Staff Development and Support
We recognise that staff are fundamental to the success of any organisation and there is an increasing focus on educational providers playing a key role in the identification and support of pupil mental health difficulties. We provide training, consultation, reflective practice and supervision support for staff to build their own resilience and confidence to ensure that they have the skills, support frameworks and resources to helpfully support pupils emotional wellbeing and mental health in education.
We offer bespoke packages of training and regular supervision for key staff to increase their confidence and competence in supporting pupils and colleagues including but not limited to:
Mental Health Awareness
Understanding behaviour
Developing effective behaviour support in schools
Autism - From theory to practical pupil support.
Learning Disability, Autism and Challenging Behaviour
Attachment theory - Practical Applications for traumatised children.
Risk assessment and care planning
Developing effective care for mental health and behavioural problems.
Self-care for Staff and Pupils.
Building effective teams.
We can also offer bespoke training packages on request.
We recognise that staff development can take time to embed and can offer regular supervision for key staff as a way of continual skills development and to support learning care plans.
We also recognise that for staff to be able to perform effectively at their best, maintain enthusiasm and high morale, they need time to support their own needs in working with complex and challenging young people. We are able to provide reflective practice and supervision for staff to look after their own wellbeing in educational settings.
Systemic Consultation
This is usually part of any service we provide where we meet with the senior leadership team to fully understand their concerns, challenges and successes as well as the aims of the organisation from the leadership perspective. This ensures that we fully understand the requirements of the school and helps to collaboratively inform the support offered. We can develop clear aims and think about resources, systems and processes to address the needs of the school.
Autism and Learning Disability
We have specialist knowledge in the assessment and diagnosis of Autism and Learning Disabilities and interventions to support mental health and emotional wellbeing, develop comprehensive support plans and address challenging behaviour. We offer bespoke packages of support for educational settings where their main focus is supporting and caring for people with Autism, learning disabilities or both.
Care you can trust...
At Abacus Psychology all of our Psychologists have up to date DBS checks and are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council - the regulatory body for Practitioner Psychologists.
Contact Us
Burnden House, 150 Weston Road, Stafford. ST16 3RU
07725 839462