Working with Children, Young People and Families

Working with children, young people and families is a discipline concerned with the professional knowledge, values, and skills needed to support children and young people's development, wellbeing, and rights across a range of social and educational settings. It draws on child development theory, social policy, sociology, psychology, and professional ethics to build an understanding of how children and families experience services and how practitioners can work effectively and ethically alongside them. The field has been shaped by significant policy and legislative frameworks, including children's rights, safeguarding legislation, and the integration of health, education, and social care services.

At the University of Northampton, this three-year full-time degree prepares you for a range of careers working directly with children, young people, and their families in community, educational, and social care contexts. You will study child and adolescent development, the social and structural factors affecting children's lives including poverty, inequality, and discrimination, safeguarding and child protection frameworks, and the ethical and legal responsibilities of practitioners. You will examine how different agencies, from schools and youth services to health and social work, collaborate to support children and families, and develop the reflective practice skills that professional work with this group demands.

The degree builds both the knowledge base and the personal qualities, including empathy, resilience, and ethical commitment, that effective work with children requires.

Graduates work as youth workers, family support workers, children's centre staff, early years practitioners, learning mentors, education welfare officers, and in roles across voluntary and statutory children's services. For those wishing to qualify as social workers or teachers, further professional training is required, and the degree provides relevant preparation for those routes. Further study options include postgraduate qualifications in social work, youth work, early childhood education, and family support.