Aspiring Youth Justice​/Criminal Justice​/Social Justice Officer - Learning Support Assistant

Learning Support Assistant Role: SEMH & Youth Justice Pathway - Graduate Learning Support Assistant
Specialist SEMH School - West Drayton | Strong links to London Youth Offending & Safeguarding Services)
Start Date:
September 2026
Pay: £101.40 per day | Term time only | 8:30am - 3:45pm

Are you a Criminology, Psychology, or Social Science graduate who wants to understand the real intersection between SEMH, school exclusion, and the youth criminal justice system?

Do you want to work directly with vulnerable children in a London-linked SEMH setting-children who are at high risk of knife crime, gang exploitation, criminalisation, and the school-to-prison pipeline
?

If you're aspiring to become a Forensic Psychologist, Youth Justice Officer, Probation Practitioner, Clinical Psychologist, or Social Worker
, this role offers front-line, trauma-informed experience that most graduate schemes cannot provide.

Aspiring Youth Justice/Criminal Justice/Social Justice Officer
- Learning Support Assistant
- Education and Training
- Aspiring Youth Justice/Criminal Justice/Social Justice Officer
- Learning Support Assistant

The Role: SEN Learning Support Assistant (SEMH Focus)

You will join a specialist SEMH school in Slough—a setting that supports pupils whose complex needs are often rooted in:

• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
• Community violence and exposure to crime
• Family breakdown and poverty
• Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) and gang affiliation
• Knife crime and serious youth violence

Many of these young people have been permanently excluded from mainstream education or are on the edge of the criminal justice system
.

Your role will be to support them to re-engage with learning, regulate their emotions, and make safer choices
—often in moments of crisis.

Aspiring Youth Justice/Criminal Justice/Social Justice Officer
- Learning Support Assistant
- Education and Training
- Aspiring Youth Justice/Criminal Justice/Social Justice Officer
- Learning Support Assistant

What You Will Gain
- Practical Experience in Youth Justice & SEMH Intervention

This is not a passive classroom role. You will be actively involved in:

• Emotional regulation and de-escalation - supporting pupils during heightened states of distress or aggression
• Restorative practice - facilitating conversations around harm, consequences, and repair
• 1:1 and small-group mentoring - delivering interventions focused on decision-making, peer pressure, and risk awareness
• Behaviour support - working alongside specialist staff to implement tailored behaviour plans
• Safeguarding in practice - contributing to risk assessments, incident reporting, and contextual safeguarding (peer groups, home environment, community risks)
• Knife crime prevention - supporting workshop-style inputs and reflective discussions around violence, carrying weapons, and personal safety
• Trauma-informed practice - learning how to build trusting relationships with young people who have experienced significant harm and rejection

Why This Role Is Ideal for Graduates Targeting the Criminal Justice Sector

This school sits within a wider London-an