Meet the SEND Team

22 May 2024

Q: Why are children with SEND needing to be prioritised for Educational Psychologist appointments due to limited resource and funding? What is being done to improve it from the current position? I'm aware of a parent’s ability to submit a request for EHC needs assessment but this just put a child with higher need further down our schools list which is completely unacceptable.

Why are more core EP hours not given to schools to meet the need in the school and to meet the councils statutory responsibilities?  How will you meet the increasing need?

A: Educational Psychologists (EPs) are highly specialist and there absolutely is a national shortage. In Blackpool we have a Principal EP, as well as a small, but highly experienced team of qualified EPs. We continue to actively recruit to vacancies across the North West.

We are also growing our own EPs, we currently have 3 assistant EPs working towards being fully qualified.

In addition, what we have in Blackpool that other areas don’t have is a free SEND Support Team. They are able to support schools and parents to identify and meet needs at the earliest opportunity.