Annette du Plessis

What is a Psycho-Educational Assessment?
Psychology services are often sought by parents because they are looking for a psycho-educational assessment for their child. This assessment may be initiated by the school or parents due to concerns about the child’s cognitive functioning, learning, attention or behaviour at school.  Psycho-Educational assessments evaluate a child’s thinking and reasoning abilities and underlying psychological processes, for example  memory, attention and processing, as well as executive functioning, academic achievement  and behaviour and social-emotional functioning in the context of their stage of development and in comparison to their peers.

The goal of such an assessment is to identify cognitive and academic areas of strength and weakness in order to address these areas through intervention or support.  The information obtained over the course of the assessment – including interviews, parent, teacher and child rating scales, one-on-one testing results and observations of the child assist the psychologist in providing the child, the family and, with consent from the family, the teachers with a better understanding of the child’s abilities and their needs in the classroom, at home and with peers. The findings of the assessment are compiled into a report, and all findings, diagnoses and recommendations are discussed with the family at the end of the assessment process.  Referrals to other services may be made as appropriate, such as to occupational therapists for fine motor concerns or to speech-language therapists for communication difficulties.

What is a School-Readiness Assessment?
A child’s readiness for school encompasses the whole range of physical, social, emotional, language and cognitive skills that children need to thrive. School readiness is a measure of how prepared a child is to succeed in school, cognitively, socially and emotionally. It also implies that the child has reached a certain stage in their development where formal education will be advantageous to the child. The goal of the school readiness assessment is to predict whether the child is ready for formal schooling. This includes intellectual, socio-emotional, conceptual and perceptual readiness.

What is a Scholastic Assessment?
Many children experience difficulty in the classroom and can present with reading problems, spelling problems, problems with Mathematics, poor concentration, handwriting difficulties, slow work pace or hyperactivity. Underlying learning differences and difficulties may cause barriers to learning and impact on progress in the classroom and early intervention provides better outcomes.  Assessments are aimed at estimating the child’s functional levels in literacy and numeracy. An assessment may aid in identifying appropriate intervention, school placement, special educational needs, or special concessions for examinations.

What is a Subject Choice Assessment?
The choice of a learner’s subjects for Grade 10-12 (FET Phase) plays a considerate role in making a career or study path decision at the end of Grade 12. A subject choice assessment assists in this process as the learners gain knowledge about the self, their aptitude, interests, personality type, values and contextual factors impacting on this decision.  The assessment provides information to guide a learner in choosing a suitable future career path that aligns with their individual profile. These assessments may also assist learners in Grade 7 when they are looking to further their education in the senior phase of formal education in a specific type of school, for example Technical Schools, Agricultural Schools, Art, Music & Ballet Schools or General Academic Schools.

What is a Career Choice Assessment?
The aim of career choice assessments is to guide individuals in their choice of career by offering them greater insight into their own strengths and personal preferences. This includes factors such as aptitude, personality, interests and values. The assessment can be conducted on adolescents nearing the end of their school career as well as older individuals who have already set out on a career path and are considering a career change.

What is Play Therapy?
Play therapy provides a way for children to express their experiences and feelings through a natural, self-guided, self-healing process. It is a specific counselling approach in which games, toys and mediums such as clay, drawings, paint and sand are used to help a child or adolescent to express their emotions and thoughts. It helps them to understand feelings and upsetting events that they have not had the chance or the skills to process successfully. The child uses play to communicate at their own level and at their own pace, without feeling interrogated or threatened.