Tempel Larnach

I have had a varied and fulfilling career working with children and young people in various settings and roles. For example, I have worked as a Trainee Educational Psychologist, Primary School Teacher, and Child Worker in a women’s refuge. I have worked with children and young people of different ages (ranging from one to twenty-two) who have had varying levels of need and faced various barriers to their learning. It has been a pleasure to help children and young people gain confidence and believe in themselves and their abilities.  

I have worked in various educational settings, including nurseries, primary and secondary schools, colleges, and specialist settings, as well as other settings such as a women’s refuge and a residential home. All my roles have involved meeting with children, young people, parents, and professionals to work collaboratively on developing services, sharing information, and improving outcomes for individuals, groups, and organisations. I have had to develop practical communication skills (face to face, over the phone and written), and I have had to build and maintain positive rapport with service users. 

I have undertaken therapeutic work using narrative and cognitive-behavioural approaches with young people experiencing anxiety and anger. I have conducted individual and joint consultations with families and professionals, including those from Special Educational Needs support services. I have participated in multi-agency meetings with CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service), social care and other support services. I have also delivered training events to primary and secondary schools, both in person and virtually, on various topics, including developmental trauma, emotion coaching, and bereavement and loss. As part of the bereavement and loss working group within an Educational Psychology Service, I contributed to producing resources for school staff, parents and young people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the training I have received includes training in attachment difficulties and the development of relational approaches, selective mutism, emotion coaching, safeguarding, bereavement and loss (including critical incidents in educational settings), and domestic violence awareness.

I have worked in the following roles:

Trainee Educational Psychologist - Employed by Wakefield Council from September 2021 to February 2025. On placement with Wakefield Council via a bursary from September 2019 to August 2021. On placement with Barnsley Council from January 2019 to July 2019. On placement with Leeds Council, October 2018 to December 2018.

Assistant Educational Psychologist - Employed by Bradford Council, November 2014 to August 2018.

Primary School Teacher - Employed by Littlemoor Primary School, Oldham, November 2009 to August 2013.

Teaching Assistant - Employed by Grange School, Manchester, September 2006 to September 2008.

Childworker - Employed by Swindon Women's Aid, October 2001 to June 2006

Student Support Worker - Employed by the National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy, now operating as Young Epilepsy, November 1999 to October 2001.

I have also had temporary employment as:

Casual Support Worker (Relief) - Disabled Children's Team, Chorlton District Office, January to July 2008.

Exam Invigilator - Westonbirt School, Tetbury, May to August 2006

I gained a Master of Arts in Child and Educational Psychology in January 2025 from the University of Sheffield. I began the Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology at the University of Sheffield in September 2018. I completed university academic work and placements in three local authorities. However, I withdrew from the course in September 2024 without submitting a thesis due to personal reasons, resulting in a masters qualification, not a doctorate.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (primary teaching) from the University of Manchester in July 2009. This qualification gave me Qualified Teacher Status.

Master of Arts Honours degree with the classification of Upper Second (2:1) in psychology from the University of Glasgow in July 1997.

Attended Wick High School and completed Scottish Higher and Revised Higher qualifications across 1996 and 1997 in the following subjects: Geography (A), English (B), Maths (B), Religious Studies (B), Chemistry (C), Biology (C), Physics (D).