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Welcome to Golden Thread Psychology: A guide for schools

Commissioning a new service can be a process filled with questions and anxieties. How do you know you're getting good value for money? Is this service a good fit for your school? How do you pick one company over another?


These FAQs should address some of the thoughts you might be having and reveal a little more about the approaches and attitudes of Golden Thread Psychology.


 

Within this blog you will find:


 

  1. How does your company differ from the Local Authority offer?

We feel fortunate at Golden Thread Psychology not to be confined by the statutory duties that the Local Authority must deliver on. This grants us greater flexibility with how we use our time, often resulting in the opportunity to complete preventative, rather than reactive work. Only serving the Golden Thread Psychology community of schools means we have more time to spend with each setting, strengthening our connections with key staff.


Whilst we are not involved in statutory processes, the information we provide as part of our assessments can be used as evidence towards requesting statutory support (e.g. within a request for an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment).


  1. Who do you work with?

Educational Psychologists are trained to work with children and young people aged 0 to 25. This means we can work in a range of community and education settings, from children's centres and nurseries, through primary and secondary schools, and onto further and higher education. We also work in specialist provisions. In some cases, we may work with the key adults who surround a child, or more systemically, looking at processes with a school or providing supervision for staff.


  1. Do you work with MATs as well as individual settings?

Yes, we do! MATs work in a variety of different ways. Some MATs prefer to select one company to provide EP services to all of their schools, whereas others prefer the individual schools to find the EP who's the perfect fit for them. Where we work with the whole MAT, we often spend time with the central MAT team as well, thinking more systemically about SEND across the Trust.


  1. How do I make a referral?

We don't work on a referral model. Instead, we encourage prospective schools to book a free 30 minute no obligation discussion or get in touch via our contact form, email or phone. Any of these methods allow the EP to find out a little bit more about your individual needs and provide more information on the kind of assessment that might be appropriate. If everyone is in agreement, a Service Level Agreement is sent to the school and an EP is named for that piece of work.


  1. Do I have to buy a contract?

No! Alongside our contracts, we offer standalone EP involvement in the form of assessments, consultations and training. These can be a great way to 'try before you buy' and make sure that we're a good fit for your setting. However, if you're already set on building a relationship with Golden Thread Psychology, we'd recommend exploring a contract instead. This allows great forward planning, less time spent on admin jobs meaning more EP time 'on the ground' and protected time throughout the year. Not sure how much time you need? Our free 30 minute discussion is designed for this purpose!


  1. What happens if the child won't engage?

Golden Thread Psychology places relationships at the centre of everything it does. Our staff are highly skills and experienced in building rapport with children and young people. However, there will always be occasions where the child just isn't feeling it, and that's OK! We strongly promote self-advocacy and the seeking of consent when we work with children and young people. Therefore, we will never insist that a child works with us.


Please don't worry though. Part of our job is drawing together information from a variety of sources in order to weave that golden thread! We will always be able to contribute to a situation through alternative methods such as consultation with home and school, observations, 'book looks' and reviewing the child's file.


  1. We really liked the EP we had before. Can we have them again?

Where there is an existing relationship between a school and an EP, we do our best to honour that. However, often this comes down to availability and is one of the reasons why we encourage schools to purchase contracts as that secures a named EP for the length of the contract. At the end of the contract, the named PE might change. This is considered best practice as it allows us to remain a critical friend and can bring fresh ideas into a school. Be assured, all of our EPs have completed a comprehensive induction with Golden Thread Psychology to ensure any changes in EP run smoothly and the quality of service is maintained.


  1. Is there any way of giving feedback?

We love receiving feedback! Our sole purpose is to provide a service that's fit for schools, families and children. Any feedback we receive is reviewed and, where possible, factored into future decisions. After individual EP involvement, a questionnaire will be sent to gather 'in the moment' feedback. We also send annual questionnaires to school leaders to capture more of an overview of how things are going. If you wish to provide specific feedback regarding a service we have provided, this can be done by emailing hello@goldenthreadpsychology.co.uk.


If you have any questions that haven't been answered here, drop us an email at hello@goldenthreadpsychology.co.uk. We'd love to hear from you!

 
 
 

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