School and Education

If you have concerns about your child’s academic progress or engagement with learning the team of Educational Consultants are here to help.

You may be unsure about what is required but using our experience and expertise we will explore the issues, your concerns and guide you. This may involve referral to clinicians or may simply be liaison with your child’s school. We pride ourselves on our close liaison with schools to ensure that your child’s progress is central to any discussion held between parent, school, clinicians and the education team.

If your child requires referral to a clinician or a Multi-Disciplinary Assessment (MDA) we will connect you to the right clinical specialists. Following assessment we put the recommendations of the clinicians into an educational context to provide guidance for your child’s education.

In the event that another school may be more appropriate for your child, we help to determine the best educational trajectory and are proactive in helping you find a school that is the right match for your child.

Parents

The Educational Advisory Team provides advice to parents on every aspect of education.

We listen to concerns and use our expertise and experience to advise on the way forward. This may take a variety of routes but we will ensure that you are on the right path.
Effective intervention, strategies and provision, in the right environment are needed to secure expected progress and wellbeing.

We help parents and schools understand clinical reports and diagnoses for a wide variety of conditions and learning difficulties.

Any diagnosis, clinical condition or neurodiverse profile has an impact on home life and education. Whether it is a single assessment or a combination of clinical reports, we put the child at the centre and provide advice on the challenges faced.

Support for parents includes understanding the implications of diagnosis or difficulties and why intervention, therapy or reasonable adjustments are necessary.

We work with schools to provide experience and knowledge on adjustments that are needed, whatever the diagnosis, medical condition or unique profile.

With our help parents can make informed decisions regarding appropriate educational provision at different stages. The right school for the child at their stage in education is key. In the rare event that a change of school is necessary, we share our bank of knowledge to find the best match of school for the child. We facilitate parents in making an informed decision to select the most suitable environment for their child.

The ADOS-2 is an assessment of language and communication, social interaction and play for children suspected of having autism. The ADOS-2 consists of direct observation of your child behaviours using a variety of play-materials and activities according to your child level of language and age. The child is actively involved in this test.

Prior to the assessment, your child’s nursery or school will be asked to complete a specific questionnaire with relevance to social communication concerns. Also, you will be asked to forward relevant reports from other professionals who have seen your child to help build up a picture. Such information is very important for the specialists in reaching a diagnostic decision.

Schools

The Educational Advisory Team provides advice to schools regarding reasonable adjustments and strategies for education and learning for a wide variety of clinical conditions across all ages.

Schools can face challenges meeting the diverse and often complex needs of the children in their care and the expectations of parents. We understand those challenges and can work with schools to ensure they provide the provision and support to meet both needs and expectations in a reasonable way.

We have experience in common diagnoses such as dyslexia, developmental coordination disorder/dyspraxia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, ASD, PDA/ODD, ADHD, speech and language disorder/delay/difficulties, executive functioning difficulties and many more.

We understand how difficulties overlap and needs change according to the age of the child and the demands of the curriculum. Our advice always looks at the whole picture and the child’s journey through each stage in education.

Wellbeing

Emotional and mental health challenges can have a significant impact on education and a child’s ability to thrive at school. The Educational Consultants place the child at the centre to take a holistic approach.

Our experience and knowledge of the educational system means that we are able to provide advice for both parents and schools so that the educational experience can be adapted to enable engagement and access to learning.

There can be a variety of reasons for emotional dysregulation or wellbeing to be affected. Divorce and separation, attachment difficulty, trauma and anxiety are just a few examples that can affect a child’s ability to cope at school.

A member of the Education Team can provide a report for school to ensure your child has access to and is receiving the support and understanding they need.

Education, Health, Care Plans (EHCP)

The Educational Advisory Team can provide advice and guidance about the EHCP process to both parents and schools considering, or in the process of applying for an EHCP Needs Assessment.

Our service will help you to access appropriate independent clinicians who will provide a full assessment & professional report.

If there is a diagnosis, we help you to understand diagnostic information and evidence that should be included in an application.

The consultant will guide you through the collation of independent, professional medical reports and recommendations that can be used to support the EHCP application during the initial stage.

If necessary we can help to identify appropriate schools both in the maintained, independent and specialist sectors.

Our team of experienced educational consultants will provide you with an independent overview to ensure adequate provision is stated in the plan to help meet the needs of your child.

If there are amendments, updates or concerns that need to be considered, we can advise on or attend annual reviews with parents at their request.

Make an Enquiry

Complete our short enquiry form and one of our staff will get back to you as soon as possible

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Once you have completed and submitted the short enquiry form, our triage clinician will contact you as soon as possible and within 48 hours by phone. Following the phone call, the triage clinician will identify and connect you to the appropriate consultant. The consultant will discuss a way forward with you, including appointment times and fees. Where there is no appropriate consultant available, we will inform you promptly.

Please note that the Child and Family Practice is not an emergency/crisis service. Therefore, we cannot respond to crisis situations. In those circumstances you must seek help from your GP or local A&E services.

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    Our Specialists

    Andrew Stephens

    Consultant Educational and Clinical Psychologist

    Dr Roger Kennedy

    CONSULTANT CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRIST AND PSYCHOANALYST

    Georgia Pavlopoulou

    AUTISM SPECIALIST, EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT FOR LEARNING DISABILITIES

    Richenda Morrison

    Consultant Educational Psychologist

    Andrew Stephens

    Position: Consultant Educational and Clinical Psychologist
    Categories: *School and Education, Psychologists

    Andrew is a highly qualified psychologist with a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) and a Masters from the University of Sydney who brings exceptional educational and clinical expertise to his practice. In 2020, he relocated to the UK, serving as a senior educational psychologist for Essex local authority. Now in independent practice, Andrew specialises in psychoeducational and autism assessments, reflecting his dedication to positively impacting lives.

    Andrew puts his clients at the front and centre of his practice and takes a person-centred approach to all assessments. He is a passionate advocate of neurodiversity-affirmative practice and believes wholeheartedly in empowering individuals to recognise and capitalise on their strengths.

    Andrew is registered with the Health & Care Professionals Council (HCPC) as an Educational, Clinical and Counselling psychologist and the British Psychological Society (BPS).

      Dr Roger Kennedy

      Position: CONSULTANT CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRIST AND PSYCHOANALYST
      Categories: *ADD, *ADHD, *Autism, *Multidisciplinary Assessments, *School and Education, *Trauma Therapy, Directors, Psychiatrists

      Dr Roger Kennedy worked as a Consultant Family Psychiatrist in the NHS at the Cassel Hospital Richmond, for 29 years and was an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry at Imperial College, London. He is trained as a Child Psychiatrist and a Medical Psychotherapist.

      He has extensive experience of providing courts and social services with expert opinion on multi-problem families as well as in private law cases, though he no longer appears in court. He also has considerable experience in assessing compensation cases. He is acknowledged as a leading expert in the field and has published several books and many papers. He sees adolescents, couples and families for therapeutic work, and offers assessments for children and parents, for emotional and behavioural problems, and does screening assessments for autism spectrum disorder and ADHD.

      Dr Kennedy is also a Training Psychoanalyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society and was their President 2004-6. He has an extensive psychoanalytic and psychotherapy practice for adults, has many years’ experience of teaching and training in the therapy field, and is often involved in presenting at conferences both in the UK and abroad.

        Kennedy, R. (2014) The Psychic Home. London and New York: Routledge

        Kennedy, R. (2019) Tolerating Strangers in Intolerant Times. London and New York: Routledge.

        Kennedy, R. (2020) The Power of Music. London: Phoenix Books

        Georgia Pavlopoulou

        Position: AUTISM SPECIALIST, EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT FOR LEARNING DISABILITIES
        Categories: *Autism, *Help with parenting, *School and Education, Educational Consultants

        Dr Pavlopoulou is an Educational Consultant and Neurodevelopmental Specialist, as well as a passionate advocate of neurodiversity.

        She has a Doctorate in Developmental Psychology and Mental Health from UCL and works with research teams in order to find the best ways to support neurodivergent people and their family members to live happier, healthier lives. She is also involved in academic research on learning, sleep, family relationships, anxiety, low mood and sex education needs of people with neurodevelopmental conditions. She is also leading Short Course in Autism and Mental Health at Anna Freud Centre. She has given talks across Europe and the US and co-authored a number of papers in family wellbeing and education. Currently, she is writing a book focusing on siblings’ relationships, experiences and ideas about neurodiversity. She is also editing a book on Mental Health in Autism: Improving Access to Psychological Services for Autistic Children, Young People and their Families. Dr Pavlopoulou is also leading a Masters’ level module on Psychological Aspects of Counselling at UCL.
        Dr Pavlopoulou has 17 years of experience in designing and implementing communication, interaction and learning programs with autistic people and helping families and services to understand and respond to the mental health needs of autistic people. Dr Pavlopoulou is using acceptance and strength-based practices, contextual behavioural techniques and existential/humanistic values to help families and teachers to work with, rather than on or for, autistic people. She employs a number of creative, person-centered strategies to accommodate the needs of autistic people and to empower them to live with awareness, love and courage in order to reach their maximum potential.
        Although Dr Pavlopoulou has a special interest in childhood neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and parenting support and advice, she enjoys working with clients with a variety of conditions (ADHD, learning disabilities, Williams Syndrome, Crouzon Syndrome, Fragile X, etc.) and is able to provide high quality services for children and young people coping with various concerns, including:
        • understanding and supporting behaviour at home and school
        • friendships/perspective taking/social thinking
        • school anxieties/school attendance
        • meltdowns, burnout and family wellbeing
        • siblings’ support (conflicts or worries)
        • home routines
        • designing, implementing or adapting a number of functional person-centered academic or direct instruction curriculum activities
        • independent/life skills
        • pre-vocational preparation 
        • transition to adulthood
        In order to ensure that the multiple needs of clients with neurodevelopmental conditions are met in the best possible way, Dr Pavlopoulou works closely with a multidisciplinary team of professionals which includes Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Paediatricians, Special Educators, Psychotherapists, a Play Therapist, a Dance Therapist and Physiotherapists.

          Pavlopoulou, G. (2020). ‘A Good Night’s Sleep: Learning About Sleep From Autistic Adolescents’ Personal Accounts’ Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 3597.

          Pavlopoulou, G. and Dimitriou, D. (2020) ‘In their own words, in their own photos: Adolescent females’ siblinghood experiences, needs and perspectives growing up with a preverbal autistic brother or sister’ Research in developmental disabilities, 97, 103556.

          Pavlopoulou, G., Wood, R. and Papadopoulos, C., 2020. Impact of Covid-19 on the experiences of parents and family carers of autistic children and young people in the UK. University College London Report

          Pavlopoulou, G. and Dimitriou, D. (2019) ‘I don’t live with autism; I live with my sister. Sisters’ accounts on growing up with their preverbal autistic siblings’ Research in developmental disabilities, 88, pp.1-15.

          Pavlopoulou, G. and Dimitriou, D. (2018) Autistic adults and sleep problems. National Autistic Society Report

          Richenda Morrison

          Position: Consultant Educational Psychologist
          Categories: *School and Education, Psychologists

          Richenda is an experienced Educational Psychologist with over 20 years experience of working for both local authorities and in private practice. She specialises in working with children, young people and their families. Richenda has not only worked in the UK for Richmond, Surrey and Merton councils but headed up the Assessment and Research for the Dyslexia Association in Singapore where she assessed children and young people to identify specific learning difficulties.

          Richenda is registered as a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and is also a registered Educational Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)