A government-commissioned report has warned of an “acute shortage” of specialists – including educational psychologists, speech and language therapists and occupational therapists – working within Jersey’s early-years system.
The £20,000 study, produced by the Isos Partnership for the Government, urged ministers to “urgently” put in place a workforce strategy to address what it described as an “acute shortage of specialist capacity.”
The report urged the government to focus on recruiting and retaining Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists and Occupational Therapists, while also tackling the barriers that make it difficult to bring in staff from outside the island.
To address these barriers, the report recommended offering more government-funded training and introducing a simpler system for recognising overseas qualifications and reviewing work-permit restrictions.
It said parents of children with additional needs described the system for securing specialist support as “absolutely diabolical” and “incredibly challenging”, leaving many feeling “lonely” and “unwelcome.”
The findings come amid ongoing concerns about the island’s educational psychology service, which has faced staff shortages and industrial disputes over working conditions.
In August, Scrutiny leaders warned that the service remained under pressure just a week before the start of term, despite earlier assurances that it would be “back to normal” by September.
Deputy Catherine Curtis, chair of the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel, said she remained concerned that children were not receiving timely support.
“The service is absolutely essential to getting children off to a good start in life, it saves money when you think of the costs if things go wrong later in life,” she said.
“The situation affects children very badly, makes life hard for teachers and headteachers and has a great impact on families – I think it’s one of the worst matters I’ve seen since being elected.”
The service has been embroiled in a long-running dispute with the Association of Educational Psychologists (AEP), which last year branded Jersey an “unsafe” place to work.
Several of the educational psychologists have also left their posts or handed in their notice, leaving the service reliant on locum cover, which Deputy Curtis said had cost £174,000 in 2024 without accounting for accommodation expenses.
Jane Lancaster-Adlam, the associate director with responsibility for inclusion, left her role in early July, with chief education officer Keith Posner confirming in an email to staff that four headteachers were spending some of their time seconded to roles within the inclusion team in order to fill the gap.
Meanwhile, a UK-based recruitment agency has advertised for an experienced educational psychologist to come to Jersey at a pay rate of up to £850 per day.
In July, the subject was raised at a public meeting by the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel, with chief people officer Lesley Darwin stating that a review had taken place and led to an action plan, adding that she was confident the service would be back to normal by the start of the new academic year.
Parents have also shared concerns on social media, highlighting lengthy delays to securing appointments and stating that remote appointments with psychologists based in the UK were less effective than face-to-face sessions.
A request made by Express last year under the Freedom of Information Law revealed that of the 236 total assessments completed between September 2023 and September 2024, 47 were conducted remotely.
Educational psychologists are responsible for assessing and identifying children’s learning and emotional needs from birth to 19 years old, and for facilitating discussions to consider support arrangements in schools, and demand for their services is growing.