Dr Tracy Laverick is a Senior lecturer and Senior Educational Psychologist, with a background in primary teaching.  As an Educational Psychologist, she took on a variety of specialist areas including developing Special Educational Needs (SEN) Provision for the Early Years, Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs and Autism.  She moved to the position of Acting Principal Educational Psychologist for the Local Authority ensuring the provision of Educational Psychology Services within the area. As an Educational Psychologist she has worked delivering therapeutic services into secondary schools, delivered training on Developmental Trauma, Motivational Interviewing, Precision Teaching etc. to staff, led teams to support families and developed links to Early Help. 

Tracy has published several resources for use in schools including a Challenging Minds programme for developing problem solving skills in primary children and an Aspirations Reource to structure conversations with young people over possible futures. She was asked to talk about this resource at the DECP conference. 

Tracy's research specialisms are in communication around SEND needs, and some of the benefits and barriers to working collaboratively with parents, teachers, and local authority staff to improve outcomes for children. Areas of interest include parent's experiences of working with school staff when their child has challenging behaviour and on gaining the views of local authority SEND officers on the Education Health and Care Plan process. She has submitted evidence to the Education Select committee and was invited to give evidence at the Health and Social Care Select Committee regarding her work with  local authority SEND Caseworkers. 

Since joining Leeds Trinity university in January 2020 Tracy shares this knowledge of working with children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) through teaching on the NASENCO award, the NPQ SEND. She is the Programme Leader for the Masters Degree in Children and Young People's Mental Health and the Child and Educational Psychology BSc. 

Tracy was on the ethics committee for the Institute of Childhood and Education for three years. She has been successful in gaining funding bids to complete the work with local authority SEND officers over 2 years and was invited to write a blog on the research by the Inside Government: Schools website.

Awarded Senior Fellowship of the HEA October 2024