Wednesday 29 July 2015

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!





Thursday 9 July 2015

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. 

Tuesday 7 July 2015

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.


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.


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.


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).


 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.


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.


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. 


Friday 3 July 2015

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!

Wednesday 1 July 2015

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!