Eastern Region Educational Psychology Annual CPD Conference

This year our conference focus is inclusive and safe schools. We will be hearing from a wide range of speakers from different perspectives that will help us to reflect on our work in being inclusive practitioners and supporting educational settings to develop inclusive and safe schools.

As with previous conferences, the programme includes both whole conference keynote speakers and smaller group workshops.

Many of the presentations and workshops are provided by colleagues from across the different eastern region educational psychology services including trainee educational psychologists and specialist practitioners.

Each workshop will be limited to a certain number of attendees, determined on a first come first served basis. Please only sign up for yourself, and not other colleagues. It would be appreciated if there is representation across all services at the workshops.

Please ensure that you sign up for two workshops.

The keynote speaker presentations and workshop summaries are outlined to support your sign-up choices.

We have planned a timetable to allow sufficient time for relaxed coffee, tea, and lunch breaks to get to know our colleagues. Please assist the programme by arriving just before the start times of the various keynote speaker presentations and workshops.

We will be aiming to ensure the conference runs as smoothly as possible for all presenters and colleagues attending. If we can be of assistance, please let us know. If you have any questions prior to attending, please contact your Eastern Region CPD representative:

• Marie Osborn: Suffolk
• Caroline Ribton: Cambridgeshire
• Lucy Kimber: Norfolk
• Jane Reichardt: Hertfordshire
• Ellie Turner: Central Bedfordshire
• Claire Catchpole: Bedford Borough
• Erin Cheong: Essex
• Deborah Churchill: Peterborough
• Karen Harris: Principal EP Representative

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Louise Michelle Bombèr is qualified as both a specialist teacher, a therapist and a DDP certified practitioner. She is the Founding Director of TouchBase Centre CiC in Brighton. The aims of TouchBase are to support those who have experienced adverse childhood experiences to function well at home, in their schools and out in the community.

Louise and her team offer a range of support services for children and young adults (5 to 25) who have experienced significant relational traumas and losses to move towards learned security and recovery. They also support family, friends, and professionals around these children.

Louise has a wealth of lived experience as both an adoptive parent and as a professional. As well as having written many articles, she is the author of the very popular book ‘Inside I’m Hurting’, now translated into French and Italian. She also wrote ‘What About Me?’. Louise contributed to the book ‘Teenagers & Attachment’. She has co-authored ‘Settling Troubled Pupils to Learn: Why Relationships Matter in School’ together with Dan Hughes.

Louise contributed to a specialist family law book ‘Capacity to Change’ outlining what needs to be considered for traumatized children and their lives in school. More recently Louise has written the ‘Attachment Aware Schools Series – Bridging the gap for troubled pupils’ to support schools to create effective small teams around pupils – Team Pupil.

Her most recent books are ‘Know Me to Teach Me’, a book that advocates for differentiated discipline in schools using the latest findings in child development and neuroscience. Along with ‘Working with Relational Trauma in Schools: An Educator's Guide to Using Dyadic Developmental Practice’ co-authored with Dr Sian Phillips and Dr Kim Golding.

For more information visit Louise Bombèr's website - Touchbase.

Title: Tensions and Dissonance in the school attendance landscape: an opportunity for relational safety with children and families.

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Workshop 1: What does good look like? Educational psychologists’ perspectives on an inclusive education system

Room: Oak

Presenter: Cath Lowther (AEP General Secretary)

Abstract: this workshop is an opportunity for EPs to talk about what they think an inclusive education system should look like. What psychological theories should inform such a system? What approaches should be central to education delivery? What should students gain through education?

Aims: by the end of this session, you will have participated in the early stages of a potential national research project around what good looks like in education, commissioned by the AEP.

Workshop 2: Just Playing? An evaluation of a six-week therapeutic play intervention for children with SEMH

Room: Yew

Presenter: Dr Melanie Adkins (Principal Educational Psychologist, Southend and Play Therapist)

Abstract: this workshop dives into the playroom to find out why should professionals who work with children and young people should even bother with ‘just playing!’ We begin with a working definition and then explore what the evidence says it can do for our us and our children. We can’t just trust the data though; we need to also consider what those who have tried it first hand say. We will then consider the nature of the study completed, what we found, and where we might go next.

Aims - by the end of this session, you will:

• have a bit of fun!
• consider the significance of therapeutic play including the benefits
• consider how an intervention might run, the outcomes and the challenges

Workshop 3: Exploring bereaved children’s experiences of the death of a close relative and the ways they wish to be supported: an emancipatory study

Room: Chestnut

Presenter: Maya Abraham-Steele (Year 3 Trainee Educational Psychologist, Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust)

Abstract: this workshop will present the preliminary findings of a doctoral thesis, which explored 13–21-year old’s experiences of being bereaved as children. The study used focus groups to explore eight young people’s experiences of the death of a close relative (parent or grandparent) within the context of home, school and socially as well as what they perceive to be supportive in grief.

Aims - by the end of this session, you will:

1. have a better understanding of the experience of childhood bereavement from the perspective of the child/young person
2. have reflected on and discussed the implications of the findings for both EP practice and the education profession more generally

Workshop 4: Internationally trained EPs working in the UK…under-utilised resource or high maintenance acquisition?

Room: Pine

Presenters: Colin McKay, South Africa (Educational Psychologist, Hertfordshire) and Liánro WagenerSmith, USA (Educational Psychologist, Hertfordshire)

Abstract: surprisingly little is known about the backgrounds and work experiences of internationally trained EPs, who work within local authorities. What could be done differently to ensure that local authorities enter into mutually beneficial relationships with them? Or should that even be a consideration? In under-resourced and overworked local authorities, should the aim not simply be to transform them into exemplary UK educational psychologists? Join us for a reflection on the backgrounds and UK based experiences of two of our international colleagues.

Aims - by the end of this session, you will:

• have a better understanding of EP practice in two international contexts, the USA and South Africa
• have reflected on the potential value, or otherwise, of foreign recruits in UK local authorities
• have considered practical ways of better integrating the similarities and differences of our international colleagues into local practice

The Question and Answer will provide opportunities to explore specific areas of interest with the presenters and audience.

Workshop 5: Recovery through relationships: developing an attachment aware and trauma informed approach in Cambridgeshire using virtual reality headsets within a joint virtual school and SEND partnership

Room: Yew

Presenters: Dr Elizabeth Coe (Educational Psychologist at Cambridgeshire), Jo Lyness (Senior Advisory Teacher with the Virtual School, Cambridgeshire), Anna Harskamp (Educational Psychologist, Cambridgeshire)

Abstract: The Virtual School and SEND Partnership, in Cambridgeshire has developed and is delivering Recovery through Relationships Trauma Informed training through core, modular and projects for a number of schools, settings and social care teams. Uniquely the use of specialist films using Virtual Reality headsets has enabled participants to experience a child and young person’s situation on an “ as if” basis, leading to empathic shift. The focus is on developing and enhancing a trauma lens and placing relationships and connections at the core of change.

Aims - by the end of this session, you will:

• understand what Recovery through Relationships trauma informed training includes in Cambridgeshire
• have an opportunity of using the Virtual Reality headsets
• be aware of the journey Recovery through Relationships has taken and hear of plans for the future
• share ideas and plans for the development of a trauma informed approach in your area

Workshop 6: The applied trauma responsive classroom model (ATRCM)

Room: Oak

Presenter: Dr Jemma Carter (Specialist Senior Educational Psychologist (Trauma and Bereavement), Suffolk)

Abstract: Jemma has a specialist interest in trauma-responsive practice and applying this to support our learners who are struggling to access their educational environments. The applied trauma responsive classroom model (ATRCM) was developed considering the trauma and resilience literature, the experiences of local authority educational psychologists, and a desire to empower education settings to deliver the support that the evidence suggests will make a difference. The ATRCM hopes to offer an easily accessible and inclusive means to establishing developmentally sensitive and child-centred approaches of trauma informed care in the classroom.

Aims - by the end of this session, you will:

• have an understanding of the ATRCM and the key principles supporting the model
• consider how you could use the model in your practice

Workshop 7: Action research: how can we develop our own professional practice? Developing Educational Psychology practice to support restorative approaches in school

Room: Beech

Presenter: Jamie Allen (Educational Psychologist, Essex County Council)

Abstract: this Action Research (AR) project undertaken by a Trainee Educational Psychologist (TEP) explored the development of Restorative Approaches (RAs) in an educational setting (ES). The systematic review of literature highlighted the wide use and potential impact of RAs in Education. The TEP Researcher worked in collaboration with a specialist ES supporting children and young people with social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) difficulties. Participants included the ESs staff, young people, and parents. The research examined the potential contribution of Educational Psychologists (EPs) including those in training, when supporting ESs in developing a restorative community. A range of practice including assessment, consultation, training, and intervention was undertaken. Findings are reported from ten critically reflective AR Cycles. The Framework for Critically Reflective Educational Psychology Practice (FCREPP; Rowley & Giles, 2020) was used to analyse and reflect on practice to promote growth. This created a Living Educational Theory (Whitehead, 1993) that suggests that TEPS and EPs can develop practice to support ESs to use RAs and add value through consultation and systemic approaches to enhance restorative communities. Implications for future practice and research are outlined.

Aims - by the end of this session, you will:

• have a better understanding of action research
• have a clearer understanding of its relevance to EP practice
• be shown an example of how I used it for my doctoral thesis

Workshop 8: Shining the light: domestic abuse

Room: Chestnut

Presenter: Victoria Scott (Year 3 Trainee Educational Psychologist, UEA)

Abstract: Domestic Abuse (DA) is a highly prevalent risk to children’s wellbeing. Indeed, 1 in 3 children will have been exposed to domestic abuse by the time they reach adulthood. Therefore many of the children and families that EPs see will be affected by DA. However, DA’s secretive nature means it can be hard to identify those exposed to domestic abuse and it can feel very difficult to address it when we know it is happening. DA can only be tackled if we make it more visible. EPs are very well positioned to work with those exposed to DA, however it can be difficult to know where to start and how best to help. The aim of this session is to help EPs feel more confident in working with those who have been exposed to DA. I will also share some of the initial findings from my research into what enables those who have been exposed to DA to complete higher education qualifications.

Aims - by the end of this session, you will:

• have a good understanding of DA including definitions, types, semantics and legislation
• be aware of how DA can affect different communities in different ways
• understand the potential impact of DA on Children and Young People
• understand the potential protective factors for Children and Young People against DA
• start to feel more confident in your role when working with those exposed to DA

Workshop 9: Training EPs for the future: marrying the training and newly-qualified experience to the realities of the role

Room: Pine

Presenter: University of East Anglia (UEA) Tutor Team and UEA Trainees

Abstract: this workshop will consider how the profession best supports trainees and newly qualified EPs during their doctoral training and first few years post-qualification. We will consider the current professional landscape in which we are all operating, outlined in the recent DfE EP workforce insights report, focussing upon how this impacts upon the profession as a whole. We will also consider the research base exploring the TEP and NQEP experience with a particular focus upon supporting wellbeing and reducing burnout. 

Aims - by the end of this session, you will: 

• have a good understanding of the workforce insights outlined in the recent DfE report and how this impacts upon the profession
• have had opportunity to consider how we can best support those new into the EP profession
• contributed to a shared Eastern Region best practice protocol of how we can enable TEPs and NQEPs in the East