INVESTIGATIVE work is to be done by education chiefs to discover why 16 primary schools in Dumfries and Galloway did not utilise educational psychologist services last year.
Further exploration will also be done after it was revealed that two thirds of pupils accessing such sessions are boys.
All schools throughout the region have an allocated educational psychologist to support the mental wellbeing of pupils.
Dumfries and Galloway Council’s education and learning annual report for 2023-24 showed that 197 virtual educational psychology consultations took place between August 2023 and December 2023.
This was a 64 percent increase from the previous year, and the number of open files for secondary aged pupils has “increased significantly”.
However, the report also highlighted that 16.5 percent of primary schools never took up the offer of educational psychologist services.
At last week’s education committee, a report detailed the work being done at both primary and secondary level.
It stated: “The focus of the consultations was learning and teaching, wellbeing, with 23 percent being about both.
“The most common themes for discussion were social, emotional, behavioural difficulty; autism; and mental health.
“Nineteen percent of the young people discussed were care experienced, 16 percent were in receipt of pupil equity funding.
“EPS (educational psychologist services) continued to be involved in supporting and planning for 264 young people, with open files in Dumfries and Galloway schools, 57 of these files were new cases within the reporting period.
“The number of open files for secondary aged pupils has increased significantly. EPS continued to support 43 young people who are not in Dumfries and Galloway schools, including young people who are in residential care or private day provision.”
In reference to the primary schools which never linked up with the educational psychologist services, the report stated: “Follow up is planned to explore the reasons for this and to remove any barriers so young people have equity of access to the service.
“Approximately two thirds of all virtual consultations and new referrals are for boys – further exploration is required of why this might be.”
