Contact Dr Will Shield

Child and Educational Psychologist

For Schools
For Parents
For Psychologists
For Local Authorities

Supporting child wellbeing and inclusion.

I am a child and educational psychologist with nearly twenty years’ experience working in education. I offer educational psychology support to schools and supervision to qualified educational psychologists and school staff.

My professional interests and areas of specialism focus on supporting the wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. This includes those who have experienced adversity and those at risk of exclusion from school. I have experience working across mainstream and special schools, including alternative provision and pupil referral units.

Alongside my work as an educational psychologist, I am an Associate Professor of Child, Educational and Community Psychology at the University of Exeter and am the joint programme director for the Doctorate in Educational, Child and Community Psychology (DEdPsych) initial training programme.

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Schools

I offer psychologically informed support for schools through consultation, supervision, and bespoke training, working collaboratively with staff, parents and other professionals.
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Psychologists

I offer supervision to qualified educational psychologists at any stage of their career, providing a protected space to reflect on casework, ethical issues, role complexity and decision making
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Local Authorities

Drawing upon my experience working at a senior level in educational psychology services, I am able to support local authority teams with short-term leadership and project work, including SEND transformation. I can also support with research and evaluation.
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Parents

At present, I do not work directly for parents or carers and only accept requests for educational psychologist involvement from schools or settings. In the first instance, parents and carers should discuss any concerns with their child’s school or setting’s SENCO.
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Dr Will Shield

Child and Educational Psychologist

Testimonials

“Thank you so much for your report. We had his annual review this afternoon and parents were really happy with your contribution. Thank you again for your support with this!”

SENDCO, Primary School, Bristol

“Dr Will Shield was absolutely outstanding in his support and advocacy for our family.”

Parent

“Will is an exceptional Educational Psychologist with a compassionate and collaborative approach. He provides knowledgeable, practical, and actionable strategies, always keeping the child’s strengths and needs at the centre of his work. He is deeply considerate of families’ views and completes reports promptly, ensuring no unnecessary delays.”

Claire Burn

SENDCO, Hotwells Primary School, Bristol

“Will is approachable, friendly and kind, all of which make it easy to build a relationship and feel comfortable to share experiences with him. He asks thought-provoking questions that help me to pause, reflect and see situations in a new light. I always leave our supervision sessions feeling lighter and clearer on the next steps I might want to take.”

Dr Dulcie Gray

Senior Educational Psychologist

“From my experience, Will’s supervision style has been consistently reflective, thoughtful, and deeply supportive. He creates a space where I feel genuinely heard, allowing me the time and freedom to explore my thinking and reflect on the issues I bring. He is reliable, available when needed, and offers a steady presence without ever feeling intrusive.”

Dr Freia Schulz

Educational Psychologist

“It’s been a pleasure working with you. I have truly appreciated your kind and compassionate approach.”

Parent

“Will was brilliant at delivering a package of Trauma Informed CPD sessions for our staff and the feedback from them was overwhelmingly positive! He was really keen to make the sessions relevant for our particular setting and worked closely with us to create a bespoke training package, adapting and refining it based on feedback. We started with creating a PATH (Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope) and using this to guide and focus the training. It felt really personalised for our school and staff and was delivered brilliantly!”

Deputy Headteacher

Bristol

“I have recently spoken to two families who have had an EP assessment completed by Dr Will Shield. Both families shared how approachable and friendly Will was and how he put them at ease very quickly and was really good when engaging with their children.”

Local Authority SEND Officer

“Thank you so much for your report. We had his annual review this afternoon and parents were really happy with your contribution. Thank you again for your support with this!”

SENDCO, Primary School, Bristol

“Dr Will Shield was absolutely outstanding in his support and advocacy for our family.”

Parent

“Will is an exceptional Educational Psychologist with a compassionate and collaborative approach. He provides knowledgeable, practical, and actionable strategies, always keeping the child’s strengths and needs at the centre of his work. He is deeply considerate of families’ views and completes reports promptly, ensuring no unnecessary delays.”

Claire Burn

SENDCO, Hotwells Primary School, Bristol

“Will is approachable, friendly and kind, all of which make it easy to build a relationship and feel comfortable to share experiences with him. He asks thought-provoking questions that help me to pause, reflect and see situations in a new light. I always leave our supervision sessions feeling lighter and clearer on the next steps I might want to take.”

Dr Dulcie Gray

Senior Educational Psychologist

“From my experience, Will’s supervision style has been consistently reflective, thoughtful, and deeply supportive. He creates a space where I feel genuinely heard, allowing me the time and freedom to explore my thinking and reflect on the issues I bring. He is reliable, available when needed, and offers a steady presence without ever feeling intrusive.”

Dr Freia Schulz

Educational Psychologist

“It’s been a pleasure working with you. I have truly appreciated your kind and compassionate approach.”

Parent

“Will was brilliant at delivering a package of Trauma Informed CPD sessions for our staff and the feedback from them was overwhelmingly positive! He was really keen to make the sessions relevant for our particular setting and worked closely with us to create a bespoke training package, adapting and refining it based on feedback. We started with creating a PATH (Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope) and using this to guide and focus the training. It felt really personalised for our school and staff and was delivered brilliantly!”

Deputy Headteacher

Bristol

“I have recently spoken to two families who have had an EP assessment completed by Dr Will Shield. Both families shared how approachable and friendly Will was and how he put them at ease very quickly and was really good when engaging with their children.”

Local Authority SEND Officer

Please get in touch by completing the contact form

At this stage, no personal or sensitive information about the child or young person should be shared. Once in touch, a call will be arranged to discuss the situation, agree next steps and determine the most appropriate course of action.