Miranda's Blog - September 2012 
 

Hi and welcome - not only to this month’s blog, but to the new term and a whole new curriculum framework! From 1^st September, the revised Early Years Foundation Stage became mandatory in early years settings.

An advantage of the revised Early Years Foundation Stage is that it continues to be non-prescriptive in terms of how planning is carried out. Settings are free to develop their own methods and to let them evolve over time - however, planning must of course be effective and completed planning documents will be scrutinised during Ofsted inspections.

All practitioners will now be adjusting their planning processes to reflect the new prime and specific areas of learning and the early learning goals within them. For many of you, this will mean trialling new planning proformas (printed forms that you fill in) and seeing how well they work for your setting in practice. If your setting offers provision for a wide age range of children, you may well be trialling more than one set of planning forms.

So what makes a good set of planning documents? On the most basic level, you need to have somewhere to record all of the information you need to capture (including what activities will take place when, what resources are needed, how staff will be deployed, what the learning objectives are, how individual children will be supported...etc!). But just as crucially, forms need to provide sufficient space for the detail – it’s frustrating to find yourself writing smaller and smaller in order to fit everything in, and worse still, finding that no one can read it later! It’s also important for the layout of forms to be logical so they are easy to read in practice. This is particularly true of the daily timetable types, which are often read quickly at numerous points in the day as staff check what they need to do next. It’s well worth making a note of any teething problems that do crop up for discussion with the appropriate person at your setting, as these niggley things are generally easily resolved.

In my latest book, A Practical Guide to the Early Years Foundation Stage, (released by Nelson Thornes this month), there are examples of completed long-term and short-term planning proformas. We’ve reproduced those for you here on Planet Vocational, as it’s always interesting to see how others plan – there are so many ways! We’ve also provided additional, blank versions of the forms which can be edited, printed and used – this a great exercise for students, who should ideally become familiar with a range of different types of planning document during their training. If you haven’t yet registered for free access to Planet Vocational, do sign up - you’ll be able to access factsheets and other handy resources over the coming months, which will compliment the content of the new book.

Last month we looked at coping with change – you may like to check this out if you missed it.

Happy planning!

Miranda

 
 

Sophia’s Blog - September 2012

This month is the big build-up for salons all over the UK that are working hard to prepare for Salon International in London. If you haven’t been before what are you waiting for?! It’s been my favourite place since I was 17. It’s like an Aladdin’s cave of hairdresser’s dreams and everything that can be imagined is there. Do you want to learn a new hair cut or maybe just try out a new pair of scissors? Salon International shows you parts of your industry you didn’t even know existed. Here’s my top Salon International tip: keep your eye on something you like and then go back for it on Monday after 4. This is when they sell off everything and you can bargain a great price!

The highlight of my month has been recording step-by-step DVDs for Diva Professional Styling’s new session tools. It’s a lot of work spending two days recording, repeating yourself on camera and trying to knock out style after style all day. But that wasn’t a moan, it's such great fun too! There are so many great ‘how to’ videos on Youtube now; I just can't get enough of them. Even the amateur ones surprise me. It’s amazing what some people can do sat on the floor in their bedrooms. Check out ‘cute girl’s hair styles’ where a mum of four does incredible braiding on her little girls. My favourite is ‘the ribcage braid’ and ‘the bow braid'. Remember, inspiration can come from anywhere!

My final note is all about keeping inspired. Have you ever heard of a company called ‘The Fantastic Hairdresser'? I’ve been on two of their courses before and each time it has rocked my world. Alan Austin Smith is the speaker and he talks all about keeping us motivated and inspired in our lives and at work. If you or you salon are feeling a bit low and need a little ‘pick me up’ The Fantastic Hairdresser leaves you in a great mood and ready for action in the salon! 

Sam's blog - September 2012 - My Summer of Make-up

So last month was an introduction to myself, my background and where I’m heading, and since then I’ve been so busy!

Because I’m now teaching basic make-up and fashion & photographic make-up for the first time, I’ve been very conscious about updating my skills and establishing myself as a make-up artist. I’ve attended airbrush make-up courses and media make-up workshops, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. I learnt about new techniques that I was so eager to try as soon as I got the chance!

So instead of taking five weeks off this summer I joined the Co-operative British Young Film Academy as Head of Hair & Make-up, putting me in charge of a team of make-up artists and hair stylists. This gave me the chance to develop the skills I had learnt during those workshops earlier on in the year, and I had a lot of fun creating gorgeous pin-up looks from the 1940s, giving men a more even skin tone without making them look made-up and creating ‘bruises’ on the face and hands. I don’t have any images from this since it was all on set but the premier is later on this year - watch this space to hear how it looked on the big screen!

On top of this I teamed up with a photographer to create some make-up looks so I could build up my portfolio. Initially we created a very edgy, raw look for an industry magazine competition; I did the hair, the make-up, the nails and styled the model. We shot on location in North Wales and I was so happy with the outcome! What do you think of my submission?

The photographer and I were buzzing with excitement after this shoot so we couldn’t wait to organise the next where we actually ended up shooting in two locations! We managed to persuade a friend to let us use their swimming pool for a natural beauty shoot, and the model looked so serene and calm. I truly believe it makes such a difference if your model is not only beautiful and photogenic but has very good skin as well.

 

For the peacock shot I had to buy a LOT of peacock feathers from my local craft shop! I also bought some foam board to mount them onto. This would serve as the magnificent tail of my beautiful peacock model. We got such a variety of images and honestly, I don’t believe there was a single bad one in there, but I’d love to know what you think about this one!

 

I’ve also entered a bridal make-up competition with a tanning company called Sun Kissed, and I’m so excited to be teaming up with the same photographer and a fantastic hair stylist who is also a good friend. I think we’ll make an amazing team. I can’t wait to show you guys the results - keep your fingers crossed for us!

I returned to college this week and it’s absolutely flown by! I love my timetable and I am so excited for the next 12 months with these new learners. It’s going to be amazing; we have fashion shows to get involved with, make-up competitions, photo shoots – the lot! My learners are going to have the best year ever.

And just when you thought that wasn’t enough on my plate, my sister and I are launching Wrexham Fashion Week 2013 to celebrate creativity, talent and culture throughout North Wales. We’ve just received our official logo and are now in the process of setting up our website. We’ve had a lot of interest from both local and national designers and if we get the venue we want, it will be spectacular! So make sure you come back next month to find out what I’ve been up to.

Eleanor's Blog - September 2012   

Tony Nicklinson’s recent High Court case to fight to be allowed to end his life without fear of prosecution of those who assisted that request highlighted an increasingly debated area in health and social care. Mr Nicklinson described his life as ‘dull, miserable, demeaning, undignified and intolerable’ following a stroke seven years ago which resulted in locked-in syndrome. The condition left him completely dependent on others and unable to act upon his decision to die.

The judges who ruled in the court case decided that any changes to current laws would need ‘the most carefully structured safeguards’ which only parliament could decide. They stated: "Voluntary euthanasia is murder, however understandable the motives may be". Doctors and solicitors who helped someone to die would be "at real risk of prosecution".

In the end Tony Nicklinson died at home of natural causes surrounded by his family six days following the verdict.

This case however, highlights an aspect on health and social care that plays out not only in the High Court, but in the day-to-day decisions within most care settings e.g. risk verses personal choice; advance decisions to refuse treatment; tests to identify abnormalities which if positive will present both a moral and ethical dilemma for the individuals involved. The advances in medicine and technology have contributed to people living longer and being able to overcome or manage diseases and conditions that would previously have significantly limited the individuals’ life. The quality of life debate is whether, because medicine can do something, it is morally and ethically right to intervene at any cost to the individual and to society.

Moral dilemmas relate to those situations in life where we are challenged to analyse all we know regarding right and wrong and the impact this has on our behaviour. Morals are based on the guidance learnt through our upbringing, the dominant rules, standards and ‘norms’ set by the society in which we live. Morals relate to honour, fairness and justice and provide us with a template for living. Ethics is the study of morality’s effect on conduct or behaviour.

As health and social care workers, it is important for you to be clear about your own values and beliefs. You need to think about the potential moral and ethical dilemmas your work may present. You need to consider your role and responsibility in supporting individuals faced with those dilemmas to ensure that your own values and beliefs do not impact on the objectivity you will be required to bring to those situations. If you side step this area of your work because it is ‘too difficult’ then your risk being part of the problem and not part of the solution.

Before you find yourself faced with having to deal with moral and/or ethical dilemmas, raise the issue with your manager or supervisor. Taking a professional approach will lead you to discover that you are not alone and that colleagues would also benefit from discussion regarding these issues. Perhaps this is something that can be included in your next team meeting or a training session? Moral and ethical dilemmas affect everyone involved and solutions for how to deal with or resolve them can only result from open and honest discussion and an agreed shared approach. Without this all those involved are at risk of failing in their duty of care or contravening legal and organisational requirements.

This summer we've been hooked to the Olympics, but not only for the sport - the athletes' nail art has also had us in a flurry of excitement! We've seen patriotic British nail art from the likes of cyclist Laura Trott, winner of two gold medals, swimmer Rebecca Adlington and even from Mexican weightlifter Luz Mercedes Acosta Valdez. Other creative nails we're loving come from Olympic 400m champion Sanya Richards-Ross with her glitzy stars and stripes, Australian Becchara Palmer’s flag-themed nails and tennis champion Venus Williams' gold studded nails, which match her medal perfectly.

Apprenticeships are better at preparing young people for work in the construction industry than degrees, according to a new employer survey.

The survey polled 300 employers in the UK construction industry, all of which had taken on at least one qualified young person in the last two years. On average, these employers rated Apprenticeships and S/NVQs as roughly seven out of ten for delivering work-ready young people, compared with an average 5.5 score for degree qualifications.  Read more....

Sam's Beauty Blog - August 2012



Welcome to my first Beauty & Make-up blog for Nelson Thornes

As you can see in the title, the focus of this blog is around all things Beauty and Make-up, which is something I have been a part of for almost 10 years now. My very first job was at a Beauty boutique in Chester where we pampered and preened very affluent clientele. However, I found myself getting itchy feet so flew off to Greece 9 months later where I became a Spa Therapist for a small hotel. This was also my first taste of independence and boy did I love every minute! I was working 10 hour days with back to back massages on guests who’d spent all day sailing, windsurfing and water skiing so I very quickly learnt how to give a much deeper Swedish massage in order to get rid of all that tension.

That was my first ‘season’ and I was not ready to come home the following October - I actually cried when I met my dad in the airport because I wanted to be off travelling the world again, finding the next big adventure. Luckily it came no less than 2 weeks later when I got the call from SunSail to head over to Antigua for another 6 month contract for the winter season! I jumped at the chance and as I stepped off the plane I knew I’d have another amazing time with colleagues who I am still friends with to this day, 8 years later.

I returned to college shortly after my return from my wonderful year abroad, and studied a BTEC HND in Beauty Management at Chichester College. This was really hard work because I was also working in a local health salon offering first class Elemis treatments. Again, most of my clientele were those who required sports massage with the odd body wrap and facial thrown into the mix. I loved it and quickly found out that I thrive on hard work and being kept busy!

For the last 5 years I’ve been teaching Beauty Therapy, with four years at Aberdeen College where I gained my assessor’s and internal verifier’s award as well as my teaching qualification. I had a blast passing on my passion to our future Beauty Therapists! But last summer I returned to my hometown of Wrexham, North Wales (which, by the way, is where the Lesotho team trained in preparation for this year’s Olympics!), and I’m now a lecturer in Beauty Therapy and Make-up at Yale College Wrexham. My first year here has been a real learning curve, with an amazing, supportive team who’ve made me feel like I’ve been here forever!

In my spare time I love sketching make-up designs and trying out the latest Beauty products and working backstage at fashion week both here in the UK and NYC. I’ve also been blogging for 18 months now, which I love! This came about after I was approached to write a Beauty Therapy text book alongside Marian Newman (you nail techs out there will appreciate how amazing that opportunity was!), when I found out I not only had a love for all things Beauty but also for writing about them. I’ve been reviewing cruelty-free products now for 12 months and it’s really opened up a lot of doors for me plus it’s meant I’ve discovered lots of amazing ranges that aren’t quite that well known yet. So I’m looking forward to sharing those discoveries with you! I’ve also joined my local theatre as a make-up artist and I’m currently Head of Hair and Make-up on a local film production, which has taken me right out of my comfort zone and is a very exciting thing to be a part of. I can’t divulge too much just yet but keep an eye out for sneaky back stage pics.

So now you’ve gotten to know me I really hope you pop back for my next post where we’ll delve into the world of Beauty and Make-up in more detail looking at the hottest trends and industry developments. My aim for this blog is to give you an insight into my world of Beauty and Make-up to inspire you and show you how wonderful this industry really is.

So make sure you stick around because 2012 is proving to be a very exciting year for me! Now though I’m off to watch some more Olympics…..