Hair and Beauty Studies

Gill Morris, Employer Champion
Christine Hillyer-Smith, Education Development Co-ordinator, L'Oréal Professionnel
Sue Reynolds, Head of Hair and Beauty, Walsall College
Craig Davies, Training Manager, Francesco Group
Toshi Chand, Team Leader, Peter Pyne Training School
Pat Dudley, Assistant Dean of Sport and Leisure, Kingston College
Brenda Mail, General Manager, Toni & Guy
Laura Marshall-Colling, Regional Business Development Manager, Sally Salon Services

Narrator: Barriers and safeguards can come in many different forms. They can include not only health and safety and risk-assessment issues, but also issues around preparing employers and ensuring that they do not feel burdened by paperwork requirements.

Gill Morris, Employer Champion: One of the biggest problems is practitioners know education, employers often don’t. They don’t realise what they’ve got to do, so they tend to take a step back. So what practitioners must do is talk to employers and say, “This is what we would like you to do. This is what we need to happen. How much time have you got?” And together work out an action plan.

Christine Hillyer-Smith, Education Development Co-ordinator, L'Oréal Professionnel: We all have objectives, we all have things that we’re working towards. And as long as everybody knows that, I think we can really work together to make that happen.

Sue Reynolds, Head of Hair and Beauty, Walsall College: A more common perception of the Diplomas is that we’re just after work experience, and that the kids are just going to go out there, the students are just going to turn up in a salon and the employer’s going to have to entertain them or train them and then we’re going to be pulling them back. And it is this that I think has been a barrier from employers. It’s about trainers and providers and consortiums explaining to employers the wider aspects.

Narrator: As the Diploma covers learners from 14 through to 19, employers and practitioners need to consider the sorts of activities that they can do. However, this should not be seen as a barrier to prevent the employers from engaging with learners of all ages.

Craig Davies, Training Manager, Francesco Group: There will be a limitation on what learners are able to do with unpaying clients, so there’s going to be a certain amount of observations, watching what’s going on, observing.

Toshi Chand, Team Leader, Peter Pyne Training School: Post 16 they are allowed to work on clients. There are different regulations, obviously, below 16 – using scissors, chemicals, etc. Once they study at higher levels in the Diploma, they are allowed to engage in all activities.

Pat Dudley, Assistant Dean of Sport and Leisure, Kingston College: We’ve got to be really careful that when we plan the curriculum delivery and the activities in the work placement, that they are safe, they’re realistic and they’re smart and that we can actually record that progress in a systematic way.

Narrator: The idea that there will be lots of paperwork involved in working with education is a barrier. Practitioners should work with the employer to ensure that the paperwork element provides the information they need, yet isn’t too time consuming.

Pat Dudley: There is a certain amount of paperwork that needs to be followed through and employers don’t necessarily like to get too involved in that side of it. So I think it’s up to the colleges to actually set some type of plan and work experience programme. And they get people out there to actually record what is needed and do the vetting of the work placements to ensure that it is a safe place.

Narrator: As for the employers, what are their experiences of working with the learners?

Brenda Mail, General Manager, Toni & Guy: For the students to come to work in the salons, I really can’t see any barriers. If the practitioners do have concerns then I think they need to speak to the individual salons about them. I mean health and safety – we’re so strictly governed ourselves now, that’s never going to be an issue. For insurance, we have public liability insurance and employer liability insurance, so that wouldn’t be an issue either.

Laura Marshall-Colling, Regional Business Development Manager, Sally Salon Service: We have to work within certain guidelines, things like the Dangerous Chemicals Act. And clearly if we are going to be utilising their skills, we have to make sure that we are offering them the basic training to use things like that – making sure that we have got the basic guidelines fulfilled in order to give them the best experience for them coming to us to make it worthwhile for them, obviously, as well as it is for us.

END