Politics

Training programme wants teachers to become prison officers as it expands into youth prisons

A two-year training programme placing graduates and career changers in frontline prison officer roles is calling for more teachers to apply as it expands into youth prisons.

Run by charity Unlocked Graduates, the programme trains participants how to work with prisoners and become a supportive leader during a prison placement, while working towards a fully funded master’s in leadership and custodial environments.

For the first time this year, the scheme will place participants in two additional prisons: STC Medway, a secure training centre housing boys and girls aged between 12 and 18, and Cookham Wood, housing boys between 15 and 18.

“As a former teacher I’m very aware that it is the children I wasn’t able to reach who were most at risk of ending up in jail. This offers passionate graduates a chance to work with those children who most desperately need them,” said Natasha Porter, CEO of Unlocked Graduates.

“I want to encourage experts who have already honed their skills in the community to bring that expertise into the youth prisons estate.”

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