Posted: 19/03/18
Being prepared reaps rewards for hairdressing students
West Nottinghamshire College’s hairdressing salons played host to a regional competition last week, which aimed to refine students’ technical skills.
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All competitors with their certificates after performing in the Prepare East Midlands hairdressing competition
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Chloe Childs from North Warwickshire and Hinckley College during the timed competition
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Elisha Conquest from West Notts College prepares her design
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Leah Fardon from West Notts College incorporated plaits into the hair design
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Melissa Bonser from West Notts College concentrating carefully on her creation
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North Warwickshire and Hinckley College's Tia Stockley
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West Notts College's Samantha Skeavington had lots of curls within her design
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Left to right, runnerup Elisha Conquest with judge Linsey Toone from Francesco Group and winner Samantha Skeavington
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Elisha Conquest was runnerup with her Game of Thrones inspired style
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Samantha Skeavington with her winning hairstyle
The Prepare East Midlands competition brought together six Level 1 hairdressing students from West Nottinghamshire College and North Warwickshire and Hinckley College on Monday (12 March) to challenge their creative skills in a plaiting and twisting hair competition.
Prepare East Midlands has been devised by the Association of Colleges to provide a range of preparatory skills competitions to support students who wish to enter WorldSkills competitions which are held every year.
Working on professional ‘Sally’ training heads, in the college’s Revive salons were Elisha Conquest, Samantha Skeavington, Leah Fardon and Melissa Bonser from West Nottinghamshire College and Chloe Childs and Tia Stockley from North Warwickshire and Hinckley College.
The one-hour challenge asked students to create plaits and twists on a ‘hair-up’ style. It was observed and judged by Linsey Toone from Francesco Group, who the college works closely with.
Linsey said: “Everyone did amazingly well. Each piece was very different featuring some unique ideas.
“I looked at design and ideas which made up 20% of the marks. The students’ techniques were awarded 30% of the marks and 50% of the marks went on the overall, completed look.
“It was an incredibly tough competition to judge with less than two marks separating first and sixth place.”
Head of West Nottinghamshire College’s lifestyle academy, Nikki Slack, said: “This kind of competition will give students a great taste for what competition work is really like. Today they’ve learnt how to work to a brief and under time constraints as well as working with colleagues from other organisations.
“This challenge really stretched individuals’ skills and helped students to realise just what they are capable of. I’m very proud of all competitors today and huge congratulations to our winner and runner-up.”
First place was awarded to Samantha Skeavington from West Nottinghamshire College for her design with flowers in the hair.
Samantha said: “It was an amazing challenge and the pressure was on but I really enjoyed it. My design had roses, plaits and curls set within it. I like weddings and proms so I based my style on that.”
Second place was awarded to Elisha Conquest also from West Nottinghamshire College. Elisha said: “I went for a sparkling gemstone element which was inspired by the Game of Thrones ladies’ hairstyles. I really enjoyed creating this look and I’m delighted to have come second.”
The Prepare East Midlands competitions are sponsored by Protocol – Excellence in FE, ABC Awards and supported by EMFEC.
