About Flourishing Futures - Flourishing Futures Educational Psychology Services

About

Welcome to Flourishing Futures Educational Psychology Services!

Hi. I’m Ali Carr.

I’m the Director of Flourishing Futures Educational Psychology Services. I believe passionately in the power of education and educators to make a positive difference in the lives of children and young people, and of those who support and nurture them through their school journey. I strive to make school a positive and inclusive experience for all members of the school community. One in which children and young people – along with all members of the school community – are supported to flourish. I work collaboratively with schools, academy trusts, local authorities, partner organisations, and educational professionals to facilitate and empower lasting and positive change.

I am based in Eastbourne in East Sussex. However, I provide both local and national educational psychology services, as follows:

Traded Educational Psychology Services in the East Sussex area

I have over 20 years of experience as a Local Authority Educational Psychologist. My experience enables me to provide a wide range of Educational Psychology Services tailored to the specific needs of schools and educational settings in the East Sussex area. I enjoy collaborating with others to find positive and achievable solutions that satisfy everyone involved. My approach is consultative and child-centred, ensuring personalised strategies and solutions. Additionally, I offer services such as Educational Psychology assessments and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for schools. I work with students of all ages, from nursery through to post-16 settings.

Find out more here.

Educational Psychology Services throughout the UK

I recently worked as a Specialist Educational Psychologist in a Local Authority (LA) Educational Psychology Service. Within this service, I specialised in supporting inclusion and belonging in schools, along with multiagency work across the Local Authority area to facilitate the development of a clear and unified vision of inclusion. As part of this work, I created the BASE model of inclusive practice. The BASE model provides a quick and straightforward framework for schools and supporting professionals to use to structure thinking about inclusion on an ongoing basis. I use positive psychological approaches to help schools and academy trusts to enhance the experience of inclusion and belonging across the whole school community. I also support Local Authorities and other partner organisations to develop strategies to facilitate inclusion and belonging in schools. Learn more about my inclusion work here.

I am highly experienced and skilled at providing individual and group supervision to professionals across the education sector. I am also trained and experienced in coaching psychology. Both the research evidence and my own personal experience have shown both supervision and coaching to be highly valuable for enhancing motivation, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction. I provide supervision and coaching to school staff, EPs, and other supporting professionals remotely throughout the UK or face-to-face within East Sussex. Learn more about coaching and supervision here

Mission

The mission of Flourishing Futures Educational Psychology Services is:

To bring evidence‑based educational and positive psychology into everyday school life, grounded in trust, integrity, and a commitment to exceptional service. Working in partnership with schools to strengthen wellbeing, nurture achievement, and inspire hopeful, future‑focused thinking, ensuring that every member of the school community is supported to learn, grow, and flourish.

Personal & Company Values

Personal Values

My company values stem from my personal values, which inform and guide my thinking and actions for everthing I do.

Flourishing Futures Educational Psychology Services is built upon the following personal core values:

Kindness

Giving, experiencing, and even witnessing kindness are all associated with enhanced wellbeing, reduced stress, improved relationships, and better educational outcomes. I start every action and interaction from a place of kindness, compassion, and empathy.

Curiosity

I am always curious to find out what is important to you and your organisation, and to identify your strengths and successes. I then support you to build upon your strengths to facilitate solution-oriented thinking and actions that fit with your requirements and values.

Hope

I believe that a positive future is achievable, and I will always support you to work towards your best possible future.

Company Values

Company values are the core beliefs and guiding principles that shape how the company is run. Flourishing Futures Educational Psychology Services company values aim to build upon the above personal values to ensure best possible service and experiences for all those we work with. Flourishing Futures company values are:

Integrity

Flourishing Futures Educational Psychology Services will always aim to do the right thing for the right reasons and will always be honest, open, and respectful.

Collaboration

Collaborative working is a powerful tool for allowing every participant to have their voices heard. It strengthens relationships, enhances problem-solving and supports creative thinking. Therefore it can enhance satisfaction for all involved. Flourishing Futures aims to facilitate collaborative problem-solving to promote positive relationships and foster a sense of equity, autonomy, and belonging throughout your organisation.

Commitment

Flourishing Futures is fully commited to giving you the best service possible, bespoke to the unique needs of your organisation at any given point in time.

My background and Experience

Relevant experience:

I am a Chartered Educational Psychologist with over 20 years of experience of Local Authority/ Education Authority work in England and Northern Ireland, covering a broad and varied range of Educational Psychology roles and responsibilities.

I am a Specialist Educational Psychologist. My specialism is to promote inclusion and belonging in mainstream schools, and I am the creator of the BASE model of inclusive practice.
I have provided placement supervision for several Trainee Educational Psychologists undergoing their doctorate training. I have also provided group supervision for Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs) and Trainee Mental Health Support team (MHST) practitioners, as well as individual supervision for both mainstream school and Pupil Referral Unit staff, EPs, and other Education Division colleagues within a Local Authority.
I am a member of a national interest group in coaching psychology for EPs, and I have used coaching psychology models to support schools staff in both mainstream and alternative provision.

I have worked for the NHS as an Autism Home Intervention Therapist.

I am a qualified teacher. Prior to training as an Educational Psychologist, I taught Science, along with Health and Social Care, in an inclusive ‘integrated’ secondary and 6^th form in Northern Ireland. It was within this school that I first developed an insight into what can be achieved through truly inclusive education, and how a welcoming and values-driven school environment can bring communities together and break down barriers to access for all.

Before my teaching days, I worked as a Teaching Assistant (TA). Through this role, I developed huge respect for value and importance of the TA role and ensuring that TAs and other support staff are well supported.

Accreditations and memberships

HCPC registered Practitioner Psychologist (Educational Psychologist)
Chartered Psychologist with The British Psychological Society
Member of the International Society for Coaching Psychology
Member of the Association for Educational Psychologists

Publications

Carr, A. (2025, January 14). The BASE Model: An Evidence-Based and Flexible Framework to Support Inclusive Practice in Schools. EdPsy Org. The BASE Model: An evidence-based and flexible framework to support inclusive practice in schools – edpsy.org.uk

This was nominated in July 2025 as one of edpsy.org.uk’s top 5 reads of the year (see: Your top 5 edpsy reads of the year – edpsy.org.uk)

For more insights into my career journey and my work as an educational psychologist specialising in inclusion, see also:

Boaler, N. & Sherwood, N. (2025, October 31). From Teacher to Educational Psychologist: A Journey in Education and Inclusion. Spencer Clarke Group Specialist EP Career Journey | Spencer Clarke Group
Boaler, N. & Sherwood, N. (2025, October 31). Send Reform on Hold: How Educational Psychologists are Shaping the Future of Inclusive Education. Spencer Clarke Group. The Future of EP Services Interview | Spencer Clarke Group

Conferences

Carr, A., Todd, B., & Brown, S. (2025). A framework to support thinking about the Little Things that can help make Big Things happen across the whole school community: The BASE Model of Inclusive Practice. Presentation at the Education East Sussex Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing (MHEW) Conference, Little Things Make Big Things Happen: Fostering the Power of Kindness and a Sense of Belonging Through Relational Practice and Culture. July 2025

Carr, A. (2025). It’s all about the BASE: A flexible framework to support inclusive practice in schools. Seminar at the Association of Educational Psychologists (AEP) Annual Conference, Educational Psychology 2025 and Beyond. Nov 2025

Communities and working groups

Founder of the Educational Psychology Inclusion Community (EPIC), which informs and involves members of the EP community throughout the UK in conversations, research, strategies, and future-thinking around inclusion, belonging, and equity in schools.

Affiliations and Partnerships

Flourishing Futures Educational Psychology Services are proud to support The Difference with their Inclusion for All campaign, campaigning to make inclusive schools a reality for all children.