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'Safe Space' is an often-used but rarely explored term within education. This thesis aims to explore the use of the term firstly within literature related to schools in both educational and psychological journals, and then the meaning of the term to specific individuals, through interviews of parents and children, within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In phase one, a systematic literature review was conducted, exploring how 'safe spaces' for children and young people were described and discussed in in educational and psychological literature between 2005 and 2020; 14 studies were included in a thematic synthesis which found five common themes. These were 'physical aspects', 'emotional and psychological safety', 'relational aspects', 'adult facilitation' and "peace amongst chaos" for marginalised groups'. In phase two, parent and child interviews were conducted on the topic of 'safe spaces' for children and young people; ten child interviews were conducted 'by proxy' through parental participation. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings highlighted the importance of relationships with people, pets, special objects and the importance of play to children. Parents additionally highlighted the importance of personalised approaches at school for their child's feelings of safety. Links are made across both the phases regarding features of 'safe spaces', and a model is presented which highlights the transcendental nature of 'safe spaces' for children.

Large numbers of children and young people are in need of support for their social, emotional and mental health needs; this has been described as a 'mental health crisis' (Gunnell, Kidger & Elvidge, 2018, p. 361). A programme widely used in schools to support children in developing their emotional literacy (EL) is the Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) programme (Burton, 2008). As part of their training, ELSAs may receive input on writing and using therapeutic stories. Storytelling is a useful tool for introducing emotions into the classroom in a safe, educationally appropriate way, and evidence suggests that storytelling approaches, including the use of pre-written as opposed to personalised stories, are an effective way to support the development of emotional literacy in children and young people, however writing personalised therapeutic stories is time consuming meaning that ELSAs may find it difficult to use them in their practice. There is scant research evidence about ELSAs' use of stories and the factors which inhibit or enable their use. In this research I therefore aimed to explore ELSAs' views on the use of stories, as well as their understanding of the term 'emotional literacy', and to explore their views of how attending a continuing professional development (CPD) session on the use of stories in ELSA work has impacted on their practice. The findings of this research show that the central reason underlying participants' use of stories in their practice is as a relationship building tool and that stories were viewed as an effective way of communicating with children. Participants were more likely to use stories when they felt trusted by school leadership and confident in their ability; attending additional training on the use of stories increased feelings of confidence. Participants had a broadly consistent conception of the meaning of 'emotional literacy', however their views also took account of environmental and societal factors, which are not accounted for in the definition of EL. Implications of the findings for further research and educational psychology practice are considered.

This study contributes to knowledge of parental involvement in education in Saudi Arabia by focusing on teachers’ and parents’ conceptualisations, attitudes and practices of parental involvement in the education of female students with learning difficulties in elementary inclusive schools. The specific location of the research is Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. Three specific objectives informed the research: (1) to obtain teachers’ and parents’ views on their conceptualisations and current practices of parent involvement, (2) to document and analyse teachers’ and parents’ views about the importance of parental involvement, roles, and responsibilities, and (3) to identify the obstacles to implementing effective parental involvement practices. In this study, I used Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological system theory to provide a framework for the development of the questionnaire, data collection, analysis, and discussion. Based on the pragmatic research paradigm, I utilised a mixed-methods design with a purposive sampling strategy to collect data from 110 teachers and 105 parents. The particular design chosen for this study was a sequential explanatory type which is also referred to as the QUAN-qual research model or the explanatory mixed-method design. The research approach involved the collection and analysis of survey data followed by the collection and analysis of interview data for integration. A close-ended questionnaire and a semi-structured interview for teachers and parents were employed to collect data. At the interview stage, 10 parents and 10 teachers from those who responded to the questionnaire were interviewed. The survey data were transferred from the hard copy material into SPSS version 26. The data analyses included descriptive statistic of mean, standard deviations and rankings of mean scores. In addition, factor analysis, t-test, and ANOVA were performed to test the cluster of responses and variabilities in the results pertaining to teachers and parents. Further, framework analysis serves as a pragmatic approach to the analysis of the interview data. The results indicated that parental involvement conceptualisation varied among participants. Key among their conceptualisations were: the connection between the members of the school’s community; the activities that teachers and parents participate in together; a two-way communication that helps to improve the education of students; and a contractual agreement between teachers and parents that involved trust, respectful relationship, and positive cooperation. In terms of parental involvement practices, almost all the teachers indicated that they did not involve parents in making decisions about their children’s education. More than half of the teachers indicated that they communicated to parents regularly to provide information about their children’s education. However, parents contend that teachers only communicated to them about their children’s academic problems and behavioural challenges. Regarding the availability of school-level policy on parental involvement, most teachers and parents agreed these policies did not exist. In the absence of policy to guide teachers, parental involvement practice was arbitrary, demonstrating a dissonance in practice. However, parents’ support for their daughters’ learning at home achieved the highest mean score. A major concern of parents was that school meetings were organised without consulting them which may implicate some barriers to parents’ involvement, but teachers claimed that parents’ attitudes reduced their interest in working with them. Further, some teachers alluded that their school responsibilities and lack of time made it impossible for them to involve parents. The majority of teachers affirmed that training them on how to work with parents might improve parental involvement. All parents claimed that positive and effective communication that incorporates respectful relationships can improve their relationships with teachers to participate in the education of their children with learning difficulties in inclusive elementary schools in Saudi Arabia. Based on these findings, I provided recommendations that may help in developing a contextually relevant parental involvement practice in Saudi Arabia.

Experiences of psychological loss are both hugely significant and inevitable life events. Support of psychological loss for children and young people (CYP) in schools is therefore relevant to the role of educational psychologists (EPs). The two phases of the current research explored psychological loss support for CYP from the perspective of the school staff who deliver it. Conceptual mapping techniques and semi-structured interviews with 18 participants, working across 3 school settings, helped to map support of psychological loss in the first phase of the current research. Using thematic analysis an overall system of support for CYP experiencing psychological loss was identified, with adjustments to the support system suggested to be required according to the age and development of CYP. Relationships between school staff and CYP were highlighted as pivotal to the success of support for psychological loss within this system, suggesting that EP support for psychological loss may be best placed in offering support to those who are supporting CYP in schools. In order to explore an approach to supporting school staff with psychological loss, a case study of an EP training programme with 9 participants from a secondary PRU school setting was outlined in the second phase of the research. It was found that adopting an approach that was specific and relevant to the setting, with a focus on the language associated with loss and celebration of existing supportive practice of participants, enabled the knowledge and confidence of school staff to support CYP experiencing psychological loss to be increased. With positive outcomes for the school setting reported. Implications for further research and EP practice are considered.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is predicted to affect 5% of young people (APA, 2013) with increasing rates of diagnosis across the western world (Safer, 2018). Young Minds (2018) also report that one in four young people are experiencing mental ill health. High comorbidity rates have been identified between ADHD and negative mental health outcomes, which has sparked a wealth of research into this relationship (Roy, Oldenhinkel, Velhurst, Oreml & Hartman, 2013; Booster, DuPaul, Eiraldi and Power, 2012; & Becker, Luebbe & Langberg, 2012). With this in mind, the aims of this research were to explore the understanding, perceptions and experiences of young people with ADHD. Although this research employed a mixed methods design, utilising both qualitative and quantitative methods, it aligns with an interpretivist perspective, seeking the views and experiences of young people and those around them. There were two phases to the research; the first used an online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to seek the views of Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCos) about young people's experiences of ADHD. The second phase employed a case study design exploring the experiences of two young people with ADHD. Phase Two also sought to explore the use of tools derived from Personal Construct Psychology (Kelly, 1955) as a means to support young people with ADHD. The findings of this study are consistent with previous literature around the experiences of young people, their schools and their parents in that there may be a discrepancy between young people's awareness of their needs and their understanding of their ADHD diagnosis. The findings also suggest that parents are not being adequately supported following their child's diagnosis. Consistent with the literature, this thesis concluded that the ways in which young people perceive and understand their diagnosis is likely to affect their wellbeing.