Children & Young Support Practitioners

Children & Young People Support Practitioner – Weymouth

Posted at 12:11h in by Julie Nicholson. Weymouth. Posted 1 month ago.

At Freedom, we support children and young people aged 0–25 who experience the world differently—including those with autism, ADHD, trauma histories, attachment differences.

We are looking for people who are curious, reflective, and compassionate—whether your background is in SEN education, residential children’s care, youth work, mentoring, behaviour support, or therapeutic roles.

As a Support Practitioner, you will work closely with children and young people to help them feel safe, understood, and supported to engage with their world.

• Providing person-centred, relationship-led support tailored to each child or young person.
• Creating calm, predictable, emotionally safe environments.
• Supporting emotional regulation before expectation or demand.
• Building consistent, trusting relationships over time.
• Using reflective practice to understand the meaning behind behaviour.
• Supporting development, confidence, independence, and participation.
• Working flexibly across home, education, residential, and community settings.
• Recording and reflecting on practice professionally and thoughtfully.

This is skilled, emotionally intelligent work. It requires patience, presence, boundaries, and the ability to remain steady in complex moments.

"What is this behaviour telling me?" rather than "How do I stop it?"

We welcome applications from people with experience supporting children and young people with additional or complex needs, including those from the following backgrounds:

• SEN or alternative education
• Residential children’s care
• Youth work or mentoring
• Behaviour support or pastoral roles
• Therapeutic or psychology-informed settings

• A Level 3 qualification in Childcare, Health & Social Care (or equivalent experience).
• Experience supporting neurodivergent children or young people.
• An understanding of trauma, attachment, or emotional regulation.
• A calm, reflective, and emotionally regulated approach.
• Confidence working independently while being part of a wider team.

Most importantly, you share our values and believe that relationships create change.

• Full specialist training in trauma-informed and autism-informed practice.
• Ongoing supervision, mentoring, and reflective practice.
• Flexible working patterns to support work-life balance.
• Clear development and progression opportunities.
• A supportive, values-led leadership team.
• The opportunity to help shape a specialist, growing service.
• A culture that prioritises staff wellbeing, learning, and quality.

We invest in our people because our people are the service.

This is currently a zero hour role, but there is a possibility of contracted hours after 3 months probation.

To apply for this job please visit