Early years educational psychologist (EP) consultation sessions

EP consultations are for early years (EY) practitioners and childminders of EY children in Barnsley settings to access with parents/carers. Consultations can be booked for:

• Children whose needs are being supported at SEN support but who aren’t making progress within the graduated approach.
• Children for whom EY settings and parents/carers may be considering submitting an Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment request.

The sessions are held virtually using Microsoft Teams. To discuss and book a consultation please contact Joanne Patterson (Principal Educational Psychologist) at joannepatterson@barnsley.gov.uk.

Consent forms will be sent to you with confirmation of your appointment and will need to be returned in advance with the child’s early years graduated response document. Parents/carers are encouraged to attend consultations to facilitate shared discussions about their child.

In preparation for the consultation it will be helpful for EY practitioner and parents/carers to consider the following

• What concerns you – developmental progress and barriers to learning
• What have you already tried and what is working
• What strengths can be built on
• What outcomes for the child would you like to focus on

Social communication and interaction consultation surgeries

Private and voluntary settings can request a SCI surgery at any given point in the year. 

You can talk to us if:

• You feel you need support for a child
• You want to discuss in house training

If you feel you need support for a child, please use the SCI consultation flowchart for early years setting to consider next steps. If deemed appropriate, please identify the desired outcome from SCI and contact your SCI practitioner.

Following your request, the SCI practitioner will consider the desired outcome and may agree a consultation meeting or signpost to training. If a consultation is agreed, a consent form will be emailed to you for you to complete and be signed by the parent or carer. It can then be returned to the SCI practitioner alongside their needs analysis and support plan.

As always, parent or carer participation in the meeting is vital.

SCI Practitioners are as follows:

• Gemma Whitfield (gemmawhitfield@barnsley.gov.uk)
• Mel Booth (melaniebooth@barnsley.gov.uk)
• Lucy Shea (lucyshea@barnsley.gov.uk)

Thinking differently parent and carer workshops

Thinking differently is for parents and carers of children with identified social communication and interaction needs. (A diagnosis of autism isn't required to access this workshop).

This session gives parents and carers the opportunity to find out more about social communication and interaction needs and the support that's available, as well as chat and share experiences with others.

The Thinking Differently workshop is available face to face or online. To access the course and other parent courses, please visit our EventBrite page.

You can also access this workshop via a PowerPoint presentation sent directly to your home. To do this please email melaniebooth@barnsley.gov.uk.

Cygnet autism support

We're able to offer support to families of autistic children and young people aged between 5 and 18 years through the fourth edition Cygnet autism support programme created by Barnardo's. In order for parent/carers to attend, the child/young person must have a diagnosis of autism.

This will take the form of seven weeks of face to face sessions for parents, carers and significant others. Group members will learn about different aspects of autism, have an opportunity to relate this learning to their own situation and have opportunities to network together.

To access the course and other parent courses, please visit our EventBrite page.

Teens workshop

A workshop specifically designed to support the families of teenagers who have a diagnosis of autism. It focuses on topics such as preparation for adulthood, anxiety and developing independence. It will offer strategies that can be best used to support teenagers in the educational setting and at home. You'll have chance to share information, experiences and ideas in a structured way.

To access the course and other parent courses, please visit our EventBrite page.

ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistants) training

The role title of ELSA is gained through access to a six-day training package developed and delivered by educational psychologists, with ongoing regular supervision facilitated by educational psychologists that supports the practice of ELSAs.

ELSAs are trained to plan and deliver programmes of support to pupils in their school who are experiencing temporary or longer term additional emotional needs. The training aims to build capacity in schools to meet the emotional needs of their pupils and covers aspects of emotional literacy including:

• emotional awareness

• building resilience

• emotional regulation

• social and friendship skills

• active listening and reflective conversations

• loss, bereavement and trauma

The ELSA Network supports and assists ELSAs in their work.

To access Barnsley ELSA training and be awarded ELSA status you'll need to be able to meet the following criteria:

• be employed as a TA, HLTA or Learning Mentor in a Barnsley school

• have capacity within your role to plan and deliver weekly ELSA support to identified pupils in your school

• commit to attending all six of the following full days training 

• attend half termly ongoing supervision sessions facilitated by Barnsley EP Service

• for your manager to support and promote ELSA in your school and commit to attending an initial introductory meeting to plan for having a registered ELSA in school

Provisional ELSA training dates for 2025

• Thursday 8 May 2025
• Thursday 22 May 2025
• Thursday 5 June 2025
• Thursday 19 June 2025
• Thursday 3 July 2025

If you're able to meet the above criteria and want to enquire about booking a place on our ELSA training course then please email Joanne Patterson (Principal Educational Psychologist) at joannepatterson@barnsley.gov.uk  Include your role, the name of the school you work at and the name, role and email contact of your manager.

Education Inclusion Services Training Events

You can take a look at the training courses on offer and book your place through POD.  See the list of courses available.