A GROUP of third year hairdressing apprentices, part of the National Hairdressing Apprenticeship programme, participated in a special showcase presentation in Limerick earlier this week.
In the first event of its kind, the showcase took place in the state of the art training salon at the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board’s College of FET, Raheen campus.
This showcase gave participants an opportunity to combine their accumulated learning over the last three years and apply it practically in a number of demonstrations throughout the day.
Speaking about the event, third year training instructor at the College of FET, Raheen Campus, Margaret Curtin explained: “This is the pilot group of the National Hairdressing Apprenticeship programme, they are the first group in Ireland to get to stage three of this National Hairdressing Apprenticeship and this showcase presentation is a culmination of the skills and creativity that they have been developing over the past three years.”
The group who will have the honour of being the first apprentices in Ireland to gain their QQI level six major award in Hairdressing include Kate Enright, Purple Rain salon, Croom; Margaret Curtin, Instructor at Limerick and Clare ETB’s College of FET, Raheen; Niamh Houlihan, Alleycuts salon, Newcastle West and Chloe Hartnett, Ravens Hair Salon, Radisson Blu Hotel, Ennis Road, Limerick.
During their final skills showcase, the six apprentices were assessed as they showed their ability to demonstrate a number of specialised technical and conceptual key skills. These included creativity, adaptability, critical thinking and advanced knowledge skills within the discipline of hairdressing.
Chloe Hartnett said: “It’s really exciting to be one of the first apprentices in Ireland to be on track to gaining a level 6 qualification for hairdressing and to be recognised for it. We’ve all got on so well and we’ve all made lovely friendships along the way. It’s great that we can show our creativity at today’s event and you get to see everything we’ve been working so hard to achieve.”
In addition to showing the depth of their acquired knowledge and skills, apprentices were also assessed on the creation of three key looks. These included colour, restyling and innovative non-commercial up-styles.
Speaking at the inaugural showcase event Paul Patton, Director of Further Education and Training at Limerick and Clare ETB said: “This is a very important day for Limerick and Clare ETB and for all of the apprentices that will graduate in the next few months with a level 6 Advanced Certificate in Hairdressing. It’s a great day for them to be able to illustrate the skills, knowledge and competencies that they have acquired over the past three years.”
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