Aspiring Forensic Psychologist – Learning Support Assistant Haringey

Location: Haringey

Trials start: July 2026

Long-term placements start: September 2026

Pay: £108 per day

Schedule: Monday to Friday, 8:30am–3:45pm, term time only

Training: Full education, training, and CPD provided

This Learning Support Assistant role is ideal for an aspiring forensic psychologist seeking hands-on experience within a specialist SEN environment in Haringey, supporting children and young people with SEMH needs, autism, and non-verbal communication profiles. The setting places a strong emphasis on advocacy, ensuring every pupil has a voice — whether through words, behaviour, or alternative communication.

You will work closely with students who may have experienced trauma, ACEs, or display behaviours linked to unmet emotional needs, while also supporting non-verbal students who require patient, attuned advocacy to express themselves safely and meaningfully. This role offers a unique opportunity to explore the intersection between forensic psychology, communication rights, and behaviour as communication — all within a structured, therapeutic school environment.

Why this role is ideal for an Aspiring Forensic Psychologist:

• Advocate for non-verbal students – ensuring their needs, wants, and distress are recognised and responded to, not ignored or punished.
• Support pupils whose behaviour may be risk-related or trauma-driven, developing insight into early intervention and prevention.
• Work with children who may have limited verbal communication, using PECS, body language, facial expression, and sensory cues to understand their experience.
• Gain hands-on experience in de-escalation, containment, and behaviour as communication — core forensic psychology principles.
• Observe how unheard or non-verbal students may express distress through behaviour that can be misinterpreted as challenging.
• Build skills in advocacy, safeguarding, and ethical support for vulnerable young people who cannot easily self-advocate.
• Work collaboratively with teachers, SLTs, OTs, and behaviour specialists to create consistent, pupil-centred support plans.
• Make a direct impact on students’ wellbeing, dignity, and long-term outcomes — reducing the risk of future criminalisation or exclusion.

Candidate profile:

• A strong academic background in psychology, criminology, or a related field.
• A genuine interest in forensic psychology, particularly around communication vulnerability and advocacy.
• Understanding that non-verbal does not mean non-communicating — and a commitment to listening differently.
• Experience working with children or young people with SEND, SEMH, or non-verbal students (desirable but not essential).
• A calm, resilient, and ethically grounded approach, especially when behaviour is distressed or dysregulated.
• Strong observation skills and the ability to advocate quietly and persistently for students who cannot speak for themselves.
• A passion for social justice, inclusion, and trauma-informed practice.

Career pathways:

• Forensic psychology
• Clinical psychology
• Youth justice
• Speech and language therapy (with a forensic or advocacy lens)
• Safeguarding and children’s rights
• Alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) roles