Young Offenders Support Worker

Young Offenders Support Worker – Education Setting

📍 Bradford
⏰ Full-Time | Monday–Friday | Long-Term
📅 Immediate Start
🏫 Classroom-Based Specialist School Role

Do you have experience supporting young offenders, vulnerable teenagers or young people with challenging behaviour?

Perhaps you’ve worked within youth justice, secure settings, children’s homes, residential care, Alternative Provision, PRUs, behaviour support or youth work and are looking to transfer your experience into education.

We are recruiting a Young Offenders Support Worker to join a specialist school in Bradford supporting young people aged 11–19 with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs and Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).

This is a school-based, classroom position – not a role within a Young Offender Institution.

Your experience supporting vulnerable or challenging young people could be incredibly valuable within this environment, where building relationships, setting boundaries and helping pupils regulate their behaviour are central to the role.

The Role

Working alongside teachers and pastoral staff, you will:

• Support young people aged 11–19 within the classroom
• Provide 1:1 and small-group support
• Help pupils engage with lessons and remain in education
• Build positive, trusting and professional relationships
• Support pupils with SEMH, ADHD, Autism and behavioural needs
• Recognise triggers and early signs of dysregulation
• Use appropriate de-escalation and behaviour management strategies
• Maintain firm, fair and consistent boundaries
• Support young people following incidents or periods of heightened behaviour
• Encourage pupils to reflect on choices and develop positive coping strategies
• Promote resilience, confidence and positive decision-making
• Help young people develop skills for adulthood, further education and employment
• Work closely with teaching, pastoral, SEND and safeguarding teams

About the Young People

The school supports young people aged 11–19 with complex SEMH and additional needs.

Some pupils may have experienced school exclusion, disrupted education, trauma, difficult family circumstances or involvement with external services. They may struggle with emotional regulation, relationships, authority, boundaries or remaining engaged within a traditional classroom environment.

Behaviour can sometimes be challenging, so pupils need adults who can remain calm, consistent and professional, understand what may be driving the behaviour and avoid taking difficult interactions personally.

The school uses a relational and trauma-informed approach, balancing nurture and understanding with clear expectations and boundaries.

Your Transferable Experience

We are particularly interested in hearing from candidates with experience in:

• Youth offending or youth justice
• Secure children’s settings
• Children’s homes
• Residential support work
• Youth work
• Behaviour support
• Alternative Provision or PRUs
• SEMH or SEND
• Outreach or community support
• Mentoring vulnerable teenagers
• Social care or family support

Previous classroom experience is not essential.

We are particularly interested in the skills you’ve developed working with young people who can be disengaged, vulnerable, resistant to support or present challenging behaviour.

What We’re Looking For

You’ll need to be:

• Calm, resilient and emotionally robust
• Confident managing challenging behaviour
• Able to establish firm but fair boundaries
• Skilled at building relationships with hard-to-reach young people
• Patient, consistent and reliable
• Confident using de-escalation techniques
• Able to remain professional during challenging situations
• Safeguarding-focused with strong professional boundaries
• Willing to support pupils academically as well as emotionally
• Comfortable working within a classroom and school environment
• Available full-time, Monday to Friday

Moving From Youth Justice Into Education?

If you currently work – or have previously worked – within youth offending, secure care, residential children’s services or another role supporting vulnerable teenagers, this could be an excellent opportunity to use your experience within education.

You don’t need to be a qualified Teaching Assistant.

The skills you’ve developed in behaviour management, de-escalation, safeguarding, relationship-building, boundaries and supporting vulnerable young people are highly transferable to a specialist school environment.

Apply today and we’ll be in touch to discuss your experience and how it could transfer into this classroom-based role.