
Dr Helena Bunn
Programme Director - Professional Practice & Placements
Programme Director
Academic & Professional Tutor
Department of Psychology & Human Development , School of Childhood and Social Care
Helena graduated in Psychology from University of Bucharest, Romania, before moving to England and completing a Professional Doctorate Programme in Educational and Child Psychology. She currently works as a Programme Director at the University of East London and as a Senior Educational Psychologist within a Local Authority.
Qualifications
- Bond Solon Expert Witness Certificate, Cardiff University Law School (2018)
- Professional Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology, University of East London (2011)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Psychological Research Methods, Open University (2007)
- Bachelors/Licence in Psychology (University of Bucharest, Romania) (1998)
Areas Of Interest
- Wholistic professional development in educational psychology
- Post-traumatic growth in education
- Complex medical needs and education
- Deprived family nurturing and important life transitions
- Assessment – formulation - diagnosis
Overview
Helena is an educational psychologist by background, with extensive experience across the public, academic and legal sectors. She has a keen interest in the interlinked topics of complex medical needs, post traumatic growth, school transitions and supporting wholistic development in the profession. Whilst keeping some of her time for professional practice, Helena is also an integrative researcher, and this is reflected in her diverse research activity. She responds to practice needs and uses a mixture of traditional and emancipatory methods when involved in research. She leads group research projects, provides mentoring to early career researchers and practitioners, and gets involved in consultancy projects to Local Authorities.
RESEARCH
- Key Outcomes for Learners in Norfolk’s SEMH Specialist Resource Bases and Autism Bases, Utilising the FLOURISH Framework - collaborative participatory study between the University of East London and Norfolk County Council Educational Psychology & Specialist Support (2023).
- Evaluation of the Tree of Life in Schools Programme in City & Hackney (2023)
- The self-advocacy transition project (research lead)
- Traumatic events, psychological growth and resilience (research lead)
- Effectiveness of ARROW intervention in children with literacy difficulties (research lead)
- Cross-cultural validation of student, parent and school personnel school climate survey in no-continental United States contexts (co-researcher)
MODULES
- PY8111: Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice 1 (Module co-lead)
- PY8112: Professional Practice Placement in Educational and Child Psychology 1 (Module lead)
SCHOLARLY ACTIVITIES
- Doctorate research focused on a small sample of children and parents who have experienced school life where the child has a complex medical condition
- Collaborative research projects focused on evaluation of intervention programme (e.g. FRIENDS)
- Organisational change projects delivered in special and mainstream schools
- Research focused on improving teaching strategies and pupils specific interventions, whilst working in Romania
EXTERNAL ROLES
- Senior Educational Psychologist, Norfolk County Council
- Expert Witness - Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal and Family Court cases
- Honorary Treasurer - British Psychological Society, Division of Educational and Child Psychology national committee
Publications
Browse past publications by year.
Full publications list
Visit the research repository to view a full list of publications
- Educational Psychology in the Virtual World: A Small Study on Practice Adaptations During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Potential Benefits for Future Services Educational Psychology Research and Practice. 7 (2), pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.8q73v
- Professional Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology at the University of East London: Position Statement on Anti-Racism and Decolonisation Educational Psychology Research and Practice. 6 (1), p. 1–7. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.89124
- The Wellbeing Toolkit Training Programme: A Useful Resource for Educational Psychology Services? Psychology in Russia: State of the Art . 12 (4), pp. 210-225. https://doi.org/10.11621/pir.2019.0413
- Work to be done? A survey of educational psychologists exploring their contribution to special schools for profound and multiple learning difficulties British Journal of Special Education. 46 (1), pp. 53-75. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8578.12252
- My New School transition to high school for children with special educational needs in England – findings and ideas for practice Support for Learning. 34 (2), pp. 128-147. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9604.12244
- Academic progress from the perception of children with SEND: an IPA study Educational Psychology in Practice. 36 (1), pp. 52-68. https://doi.org/10.1080/02667363.2019.1674250
- A Preliminary Study on Using the “Little Box of Big Questions (2012)” for Children With Social, Emotional, Behavioural and Moderate Learning Needs Educational Psychology Research and Practice. 3 (2), p. 2–18. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.88718