The School Psychologist’s role is to provide a child and adolescent psychological service in the school and to work with other staff to support students and families. School psychologists' partner with families, teachers, school administrators, and other professionals to create safe, healthy, and supportive learning environments that strengthen connections between home, school, and the community.
Giorgia Harkin is the School Psychologist for Landsdale Gardens Primary school and will be available at school on alternating Tuesdays (half day am odd weeks) and every Wednesday. Giorgia will be working alongside the wellbeing team and teachers to support students across three main areas - learning, behaviour, and mental health.
What will support from the school psychologist look like?
Student support is not a “one size fits all” approach, and support for individual students may look very different. Outlining what support will look like will be discussed with the parents/guardians and key stakeholders at the school (e.g. classroom teacher, Associate Principal and/or Principal). Some ways that the school psychologist may support your child may look like:
- Collaborating and consulting with classroom teachers and admin in behaviour and learning support planning.
- Developing interventions and strategies alongside classroom teachers and admin to support individual students learning and/or behaviour.
- Supporting schools in making appropriate curriculum adjustments for students to enhance their learning outcomes.
- Working with students, parents, and their schools to identify and change target behaviours at the individual, group, and systemic level.
- Supporting the school and parents with referrals to specialist external support services.
- Conducting assessments of students experiencing learning difficulties and/or disabilities at schools.
- Providing support for students experiencing mental health issues and determining appropriate referrals when needed.
How can parents access support from the school psychologist?
For all concerns about your child please reach out to the classroom teacher and/or the admin team to discuss how their needs can be met in the classroom and school environment. Classroom teachers or admin can then complete a referral form for individual cases that require additional support from the school psychologist. If the wellbeing team determines that the school psychologist is the best fit for support, often a case conference will occur where the individual case will be discussed with key stakeholders (e.g. parents or guardians, Associate Principal, Principal, classroom teacher) and consent will be gained from the parents or guardians agreeing to involvement.