school suggests 16 year old to see Education phsychologist

[ajay71]

My 16 year old DS has always had a bit of a temper and never liked the idea of schoolwork but while he was younger we were able to handle it. He's intelligent and capable, he just doesn't want to, no matter what encouragement is given! In the last year though he has turned into being an angry teenager, who has no respect for any authority figures and believes rules don't apply to him. He's been on report twice in a matter of months because of his behaviour in class, the backchat he gives teachers and the lack of homework done. The school believe this general negative attitude is now affecting his classmates and have suggested he sees an education physchologist but it's up to him, they can't make him.
All of the above make him sound impossible but underneath it he isn't completely a bad lad, he can sometimes be kind and thoughtful, it just seems that that side of him hasn't made an appearance in a while!
I don't have any experience with an ed phsyc, can anyone shed any light as to what they do? Are they like a councillor? Are they likely to want to speak to us? How do i get him there??

An ed psych is not like a counsellor. They vary in what they do but generally they will do some kind of an assessment of the student's functioning within the school and psychological / cognitive factors that might affect that. That usually takes the form of a chat and sometimes simple questionnaires. The ed psych might then offer some support and advice to the student and also to the school to help the school cope better with the student's issues.
If your son is agreeable (given that he is 16) you can speak to the ed psych too - in fact they may want to talk to you too as part of the assessment.
Don't worry, it's nothing scary, it's just designed to help students cope better in school and help the school provide better support for the student, and to identify any issues that might need more specialised input.
You could contact the school and ask for the ed psych to contact you to discuss the process - I would.

Here's a link that has detailed info on what an ed psych does (it's probably not from your area but the ed psych in your area will do more or less the same)

www.tameside.gov.uk/education/psychologyservice

Thanks for your reply and the useful info. At least I have an idea now so I can talk to him about what to expect. I'm sure the school will talk to us further and to him.