Riverside College competition winners celebrated at The WorldSkills UK Show
Three Complementary Therapy students from Riverside College have made it into the top nine students in the country and have been showcasing their talents at the final of the World Skills UK held at the NEC, Birmingham last week.
They secured their place in the WorldSkills UK Competition after competing and winning a gold, silver and bronze in regional heats throughout the UK earlier this year.
Natalie Millard, previously from Wade Deacon, Meghan McErlean from The Bankfield School and Naomi Lea from The Heath School were all invited to the glittering opening ceremony of the three day event after which they all competed in the aromatherapy competition on Thursday 15th November against competitors from all over the UK. During the competition Natalie, Meghan and Naomi, who have all now been offered a job with Clarins had to complete a number of tasks, including a consultation, treatment, aftercare and mixing a blend of oils for a client.
The competitors were then joined by a team of students studying hairdressing, beauty and media make up from the College on Thursday as Riverside was one of eight Colleges from the UK and Ireland to be selected to showcase a selection of styles and talents in a catwalk show which took the event by storm.
Diane Mitchell a Portfolio Manager from City & Guilds was at the event and has now asked the Centre of Excellence in Hair and Beauty at Riverside College if the students could take part in a photo shoot of their work to feature in a City and Guilds Level 3 hairdressing text book.
In a message to the college after the event Diane said, “I was blown away with the standard of work Riverside College students showcased at the skills show. We are looking to do our final photo shoot for our Level 3 Hairdressing text book and would like to do some step by step photos to be included in the book.”
Sarah Fillaudeau, Head of Complementary Therapies at Riverside College said, “Natalie, Meghan and Naomi all did extremely well at the UK competition last week. They did amazingly well to get into the top nine in the country and performed fantastic at the final. This was topped off by the arrival of the artistic team from the Centre of Excellence in Hair and Beauty at Riverside College who created and performed in a professional standard catwalk show that definitely had the wow factor. I am exceptionally proud of all of the students who performed at the event, they were all impeccable and were fantastic representatives of Riverside College.”
Theo Paphitis, Patron of the Skills Show, said, “There has been some fantastic work produced and I hope this will show everyone how Apprenticeships and vocational training can lead to worthwhile and valuable careers.”