Excited to see you!

Looking forward to seeing my new students tomorrow.

Good luck with your exam results, don't worry about them, remember..

See you tomorrow

Don't worry about your GCSE results.

School pupils are anxiously awaiting GCSE results day on Thursday, when many young people will find out if they're off to college.

 But don't panic if you don't get the grades you were hoping for, because here's a survival guide for if Thursday doesn't go to plan.

 Still go to college

If you had a conditional offer at college, ring them or go as soon as you can to see if they'll accept you. If you weren't too far off, they may still decide to give you a place and calling up to ask shows that you've taken the initiative which may impress them 

Consider all the options: 

You may be able to get a place on another programme which has lower exam grade requirements, or even do a different course! Once you’ve asked advice about the options the choice is yours. You could take a technical or professional qualification which may lead directly to the career you are interested in. Colleges offer BTECs, NVQs, City and Guilds and also A-levels.

GCSE English and maths

If you didn’t achieve a grade C or above in GCSE English and maths, you will have the opportunity to re-take them alongside any other qualifications you do. Colleges will be able to support you through this.

Consider an apprenticeship

Apprenticeships are basically a job with training. You'll get paid a wage and you'll also study towards a qualification. Usually you'll work four days a week and have one day for studying. The main benefit is that you'll get plenty of practical, on the job experience but you'll also get a qualification too, without racking up lots of students debt.

Ask for a re-mark 

If one of your grades or papers is suspiciously low compared to others, or you're really close to a grade boundary, speak to your school straightaway and they'll contact the exam authorities for you.

Do bear in mind though that while some students get a higher grade as a result of a re-mark, many don't so it's important to be realistic and not to pin all your hopes on this.

Resit your exams 

You could consider retaking one, or more, of your exams. This can be done as early as November.

When you're preparing for a resit, the most important thing is to understand where you went wrong the first time. Put together a study schedule, think about the areas that need improving and focus on the ones that you struggle with – whether that's a particular subject matter or exam technique overall. Ask your tutors for help with these areas.

And finally, don’t get disheartened. Whether you have received the grades you wanted or not, don’t be disheartened as there is something out there that is right for you and will help to get you on your chosen career path. Don’t panic, look at all your options, do your research and get as much advice as you can. College are there to help.

Good luck everyone, see you Thursday! 

Going Back to College After Having a Baby

As the day of adult enrolling approaches, I thought I would give some tips about how to help to make the transition from bottles to books! 

Obviously, having a baby changes things. It alters your schedule, impacts your habits and upends your priorities—not to mention temporarily disrupts your sleep patterns.

For many new mums and dads, though, the arrival of baby brings more than lifestyle changes. A new baby can change how you feel about your future, making you rethink work and career choices, and amplifying your desire to finish your college programme that you may have started years before.

Is it crazy to even think about going back to college after baby arrives?

Hardly. Plenty of new mums and dads go back to college after baby and find more success than ever.

Here’s a round up of some of the best back-to-college strategies for new parents.

• Enlist the help of others. Raising a baby is hard work, whether you’re in college or not. You may be a two-parent household or a single-parent one, but either way you’ll need love, support and help from family and friends. Share your back-to-college plans with those closest to you, then line up willing partners to help with child care duties, household chores or other responsibilities. 

• Set a routine. Baby needs a routine anyway, so create one that works for both of you. With a good, solid routine, many mums and dads find they actually get more done than before baby, simply because they’re forced to become efficiency experts.

• Take advantage of “free” time. Truthfully, you may not have a lot of free time with a newborn. If baby is a good daytime sleeper, though, you can use naptime for studying and assignments. Make bedtime for baby extra early and grab another couple of hours for studying.

• Know your limitations. If going back to college full time is too much for your life, ask if your timetable can be altered to help. You won't be the first one, I promise. If you’re easily distracted by house and baby, leave your spouse, partner or sitter in charge while you head to the college library (LRC), the learning zone or even a local coffee shop for your designated study time. Identify your obstacles, accept them for what they are and then find a workaround you can live with.

• Focus on what matters most. Many parents say that when a new baby comes along they give up obsessive cleaning rituals and the dream of a pristine household. Give yourself a break and stop trying to “do it all.” Prioritise family, college and work, then let go of anything else that’s secondary. You just may find it downright liberating to let go of all that perfection and overcommitment.

• Play. Babies provide a great excuse to act silly and have fun. A little bit of downtime is good for baby—and for you. Indulge in it every day.

See making the transition from bottles to books can be done.

We look forward to seeing you!

10 Ways You Use Maths in Hairdressing Without Even Knowing It

With the GCSE results looming I found this great article by Racheal Gibson at HJI all about how we need Maths to be hairdressers. Have a read!

Thank you Racheal.

Maths and numbers are central to many tasks we all do every day and hairdressing is no exception. Although you might think you’re “bad at maths” because you didn’t do well at it at school, you’re using it all the time at work, probably without realising it.

Here are just 10 of the ways you are using maths in hairdressing without even knowing it.

1. Planning your time

Even simple tasks such as booking appointments involve a basic grasp of how numbers work, especially to estimate how much time you’ll need with each client throughout the day so you don’t keep anyone waiting.

2. Stock management and ordering supplies

Running out of products is every hairdresser’s worst nightmare, so being able to manage your stock accurately and order enough of the right products is really important. If you can count and do basic sums involved in stock control, you can do maths.

3. Taking payments and giving change

This is probably the most obvious way you use maths in the salon every day. Understanding how treatments are priced so you know what to charge customers and what change to give them is vital to your work.

4. Colour treatments 

Understanding quantities is an important part of any hairdresser’s job, particularly when it comes to colour treatments. To select the right developer and measure the right proportion of products to get the results your client wants, knowing how volume and ratios work is essential.

5. Sectioning hair for colouring, cutting and styling 

Being able to section hair means having to understand shape and space, a key concept of the maths learning we all do at school. If you can section your clients’ hair properly, you can do maths!

6. Getting the cut right 

A haircut is more than just knowing how to use a pair of scissors. Understanding angles, lengths and shapes are key maths concepts that are the most important part of getting a haircut right. You wouldn’t be able to give a client the perfect asymmetric bob without them.

7. Washing hair

Neither you nor your client wants their scalp scalded! Understanding temperature to make sure it’s just right involves a knowledge of maths, as does estimating how much shampoo, conditioner and treatments your client needs for their hair.

8. Interpreting numbers

Many products you use in the salon are numbered to indicate their strength or colour. Being able to interpret these numbers and knowing what they mean is a part of mathematical understanding, so if you get it then you can do maths!

9. Running a salon 

As with running any business, maths skills are essential to calculating profits and outgoings, including rent, bills and paying your stylists. Even if you’re not running the salon, you’ll still need to check you’ve been paid correctly and understand your payslip.

10. Spatial skills 

If you’re considering starting a salon or you’ve already opened your own, making decisions about the design of your space will have involved more maths than you’d think. Understanding the space, measuring for fixtures and fittings, and working out how many workstations and sinks to fit – all involve mathematical understanding.

If you’re not as confident with maths as you’d like to be but don’t know how to improve, sign up for the National Numeracy Challenge. The site is simple to use and can tell you the areas that you could do with some practice on, as well as giving you the resources to learn. Find out more.

by Rachael Gibson on August 9, 2015  in Career, Future Talent

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40 reasons to go back to work....

It may sound funny to title this '40 reasons to go back to work but every year I start the summer holidays with the " Awwww I so need to recharge my batteries." Then I go to the "this year I might try this and I could do that this year.

 To the "oh my!!! Where did summer go? I'm not sure I can face going back yet! I'm not ready".

So..I sat in my garden and thought about as many reason as I could as to why I go back year after year. I managed 40! 

A number I didn't think I would reach at the beginning. And now? Well I'm excited again.

These are in no particular order just the order they came into my mind. They may help you too? How many can you think of?

40 reasons to go back to work.

1) for the first day butterflies (for everyone) and the sight of all the new faces that will soon become ones I will remember, maybe forever.

2) for the staff room laughter when other teachers share stories.

3) for the pure energy and excitement you can see written all over a students face when showing you a piece of work they are really proud of.

4) for a staffroom with unlimited tea and coffee. (and cake!)

5) when hearing "mum"! then turning around to an embarrassed red face asking for help (quite a compliment really).

6) stepping back to view your class working and realising the last hour was worth it.

7) for fridays.

8) for all of the things the students think its quite okay to say out loud!! 

9) for meeting the parents and seeing how proud they are of their children. 

10) for staff rooms full of Sue Hartleys.

11) for being able to share experiences.

12) for always having something good to say when non-teachers ask what you got up to today.

13) for being an entertainer every day. 

14) for how quickly and willing the students suddenly are to tidy up when you tell them its nearly home time.

15) for the wet eyes and cheeks and you can so easily dry with a few words.

16) for the few easy students that never make a fuss.

17) for the fussy ones that you strangely miss when they are absent for the day.

18) for the tears, the tantrums and triumphs.( that should be three!)

19) for the change you see in your students over the weeks, becoming more mature, professional and confident individuals.

20) for those days with more drama than the Entire world!

21) For moments, sometimes only moments of triumphs!

22)  for when that light bulb just lights up inside their heads!

23) for the invention of the travel mug - getting us all through the last week before half term.

24) for the very necessary half term breaks.

25) for you tube music playlists that keep me "down with the kids"

26) for a job where the smile of one student can on the most cold and darkest days keep you going.

27) because spending a good hour in Hobby Craft is more acceptable as a teacher.

28) for those unintentional rude misspellings.. And thats just me...

29) for continuing to learn about new things and understanding those bits that you found hard by teaching them to your students in a new way.

30) for the moments when a struggling student has a breakthrough.

31) for reaching milestones that shows hard work definitely pays off, for teacher and for students.

32) for singing, singing and more Christmas singing! I can because I'm a teacher!

33) for working with very supportive, like minded people.

34) for cool college day trips. 

35) for the student's who tell bad jokes and the ones that make you cry laughing.

36) for the look on a student's face when they show you something they are proud of.  Priceless and lovely to see.

37) for Notes like this..

38) for even more excuses to spend all evening scanning Pinterest.

39) for realising how great the job is when farewells happen.

40) for remembering the good bits, ready to start it all again.

Getting the work bag out.

After two and a half weeks off I decided it was time to get the work bag out and start some prepping for the new academic year.  

This year I will be teaching Level ones and Entry 3 level Hair and Beauty giving them the start they need in order to progress to their future careers. 

Taking a look at the past blog posts has been a great help in reminding me what was great and what I would do differently this time.

My mind has started to get back slowly into work mode even if it is while im sat in the garden. Exciting ideas are immurging I think by the time the students arrive I will be ready and waiting!

Guess what?

Thank you for all your comments and views. We hope you have enjoyed reading our journeys and adventures. A couple of weeks off for the summer then it's time to start prepping for the newbies again. Dont forget to join us. 

Have a good break. 

Level one hairdressing. 

10 top tips on how to get that summer job.

10 tips to Prepare for an Interview for a summer job at a Salon 

So you are preparing to attend an interview for a summer job and you would like to make a good impression?

There are things that you can do to DRAMATICALLY improve your chances of getting that job or at least getting invited an interview.

Tip 1. Your CV - Make sure that it is factual, don't tell any lies and ensure that you can prove everything that you write. There may not be much on it at the moment but put down any other work experience you have.

Tip 2. CV Covering Letter - Hand write a letter to send with your CV explaining why your qualifications and experience make you the ideal candidate for a job with your prospective new employer. Only type this letter if your hand writing is terrible.

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Tip 3. References: Include at the rear of your CV the names and addresses of two referees that you can rely upon to give you great references. Eg, past employer or teacher. If you know that they would give you a bad reference then you must overcome this by coming clean in an interview and telling your prospective employer why they cannot ask that person for a reference.

If you lie, you could be found out, its a tough position to be in but honesty is the best policy!

Tip 4. Do your research: Look on the internet and read the prospective employers website take notes or print out the pages.

Walk by the salon, notice how the staff are dressed, take in the environment: Make note of

* What colour brand they use
* What beauty brands the salon works with
* What retail products the salon uses
* Does the salon do any specialist services, (hair extensions, afro, permanent blow dry etc).

If you are familiar with all of the brands, products and any specialist services the salon has or uses that's great. If you are not familiar with the brands, product, and services you see it gives you a bit of time to research those brands etc, so that you can be more confident talking about them in an interview.

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Tip 5. Have a walk by the salon and see what the staff wear, now you have a head start because you can dress similarly and make a great impression. What ever you wear make sure that it is freshly laundered and pressed.

Make sure that your makeup and hair style is fresh and representative of a great hairdresser. Make double sure your shoes are clean and in good order front and rear.

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Tip 6. Smokers - If you smoke, avoid smoking before the interview, but if you can't make sure that you spray your clothes with cent before you go into the interview and make sure you chew a few mints just before you go in (don't chew during the interview).

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 Tip 7. Don't Fidget: Ensure you sit up straight and face the interviewer, always get good eye contact when answering questions. Dont think you have to answer the questions immediately, pause and show that you are thinking about the question.

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Tip 8. Your Questions: At some stage the interviewer is going to ask you if you have any questions for them. Now that you know that this question is going to be asked and you have hopefully carried out some research on the salon you must put some thought to this and write down a minimum of three sensible questions to ask.

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Tip 9: Your current abilities. Your interviewer may ask you one or all of the following questions:

* What are your greatest personal strengths?
* What are greatest strengths as a Hairdresser, barber? etc...
* What values or qualities do you think that you can bring to our salon?
* What is your greatest weakness?
* Where do you want to be in the future?

You need now to think about the answers to these questions and write down the answers. You should not refer to your notes during the interview but by think about these questions now and writing them down you will give a much better account of your self when the questions are asked during the salon interview.

Tip 10: Remember they want to give you the job, they want you to have a good interview. They might be nervous just like you!

Good luck and let me know how you go on. 

26 things that made teaching easier this year.

Everyone has there different ways of connecting and trying to get their best out of their students. There is no right or wrong way, its a personal thing and there are some steep learning curves along the way.

This year I have felt more comfortable with my students than ever before. And from this feel I have got the best out of them. Dont get me wrong, its not been a bed of roses but it has been the most rewarding year to date.

Here are some of the things which have worked well for me this year.

1. Connecting with the students straightaway. In the morning or the first session, greet each student with a compliament as they enter the classroom. Every day!

2. Share something good. Make time, everyday for your students to share news, whether trivial or monumental, this is a great way to get to know your students and adds an element of caring and sharing. We shared lots of things. Wilsons dance competitions. Jayleighs great piano playing. Leahs new baby sister. Emilys weight loss.

3. Not overdoing the rules. We used a social contract (as well as the college ones) which we all agreed on. The main rule is HONESTY. It works honest.

4. Remembering in order to get respect, you need to give it. Demi knows this now.

5. Working on planned ignoring. If a student is acting out just for attention, ( yes some of you were guilty of this) focus on them doing the right thing and ignore the negative as much as possible.

6. Taking advantage of out of classroom time. Spend some extra time with students and interacting in a less structured way. Taking them on a trip, teambuilding activities, for lunch or even to the refectory for a coffee is a great way for them to see the 'human' you

7. Encouraging creativity and thinking outside of the box. If you do something different, they will follow.... And surprise you. Kirsty did!

8. Celebrate the diversity in your class and recognise all the different talents. You will be amazed at what hidden talents your students have.

9. Gearing instruction to students’ interests. Giving them choices, options are important. Letting them decide what they want to learn today. They might not be in the mood to do what you have planned. You can always do that another day.

10. Relaxing....learning is better when your calm, students know when we are uptight.

11. Learning the strengths of all of your students and let them shine. Wow who knew Leah would take to cutting so well and Mamoona would be so creative.

12. Being patient. Remember, we all have different comfort zones and you can not force a connection. This was hard sometimes but we got there.

13. Diffusing awkward and uncomfortable situations with humour. Or take them out onto the corridoor to get some cooling down time. Giving them time to reflect themselves then have an honest chat with them about it later.

14. Giving ample time for group work and spend quality time with the different groups. We had great teambuilding activities and enjoyed the caterers and childcare students coming up for their hair doing. It helped all groups.

15. Encouraging risk taking and honouring those that are not yet able to take the leap. Mamoona taking risks when trying new things for the competition and perservering with her English exams. Molly finally taking the leap on reception and making an appointment.

16. Building a climate of “belonging” for all the students, which will obviously mean different things for different students. For some it's just knowing you will be there when they come to class. Others might need more, advice, a chat, someone to believe in them or even just someone to laugh with. (Or at)

17. Respecting individuality and encouraging students to be true to themselves. Sometimes when they start at the begining of the year they think they know who they are but its not the person they want to be. Helping them become the person they now know they want to be is inspiring.

18. Using proximity control, body language, eye contact, and any other techniques without words to diffuse inappropriate behavior. I think they all know the 'I don't approve of that' look now.

19. Be accepting. Remember that students need to be treated differently to be treated fairly. Managing anger problems and relationships has been the main focus this year.

20. Encouraging families to get involved in class activities, have an open door policy, within reason. Lots of family members and members of staff came in for their hair doing and saw what we got up to. As well as them all reading this blog.

21. Mixing it up. Instruction needs to vary. Let the students teach/show you something. Let them do a video or you be the student, invite some colleagues to come to. We had great fun doing this. Some good potential teacher there!

22. Admiting when you make a mistake. Remind students there is much learning to be gained as we all learn from our mistakes, give time for reflection. Like my number of spelling mistakes pointed out on the board. Im only human too!

23. Share some of your personal life and encourage kids to do the same. Oh the stories I have shared and have been told. We have laughed so much. Like the one about....

24. Going the extra step if your students see you going the next mile, then you can ask your students to do the same. Raise that bar.

25. Focusing on the positives and being passionate about your teaching. Bring out the passion in your students and listen with an open mind and open ears.

26. Catching them when they’ve accomplished something and acknowledge their success. We have celebrated successes on this blog.

Most importantly HAVING FUN!

The greatest challenge of teaching is reaching as many students as possible. Touching every students lives is an impossible task but every moment in our lives as teachers brings new opportunities.

Don’t get caught up in the details, look at the big picture and let each and every student know that you care, even if you have to pretend!

New student day

And it's that time of year again and what a beautiful day for it too.

New student day is the first day we get to see our potential new students. 

Always exciting!

We took them into the salon to let them try out some techniques and they all did really well.

Plaiting, curling, twisting and trying pin ups.

A barbecue was provided for lunch with surfing, jousting and break dancers for the entertainment.

A lovely day had by all. 

See you all on enrolement day!