Month: October 2019
Nurhayat Osman has just completed her Beauty Therapy Level 2 at CONEL and hopes to progress into a full time role in the beauty industry.
The course provides students like Nurhayat with essential technical and practical skills, as well as the knowledge that will equip them for employment or further training in the beauty industry – for example as a Beauty Therapist.
Students are likely to choose this qualification if they want to kick start their career, as it provides a real opportunity for students to gain work specific skills and knowledge in beauty. As Nurhayat says: “It’s really exciting knowing that we have actual clients here in The Salon. When they tell me they’ve really enjoyed a treatment or I’ve given them a new look and they like it, I feel very proud of myself.
“The college has all the products we need to use for our clients and I enjoy giving the treatments such as facials, waxings, manicures, pedicures and applying eye make-up. This was my dream. I married when I was young and this was my last chance to do what I have always wanted to do. When you enjoy your job it makes it much easier to work.
“One of the reasons I chose CONEL was that the course was free and I was able to get a qualification that will benefit my career.
“I started on an ESOL course a few years ago before starting a Level 1 course and then progressing onto Level 2. It’s a big jump. When I started I did not know one word of English – now I feel I am getting much better.
“It’s a lot to learn and it was hard having two children on top of studying, but my teachers were great and were there for me if ever I had any problems. They really pushed me to do my best, and always gave me feedback on how I can improve myself.
“CONEL gives a lot of opportunities to its students and has everything needed to get your qualification and progress in to work.”
As an international student, An has made the most of his time at the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London. In his first year at CONEL, An completed an ESOL course to improve his English skills and even won an award for his achievements. Now studying Engineering Level 2 plus a Maths GCSE, An’s week is jam-packed. Despite being busy, he loves his time in college and An knows that he can go to his teachers at any point if anything becomes too much for him.
An explained: “I’m studying at CONEL every day so it’s like home, people are really friendly and we’ve got all the equipment to help us. I like my class, the people are really funny. We are a small group and we feel like a family, we are together a lot.
“English is not my mother language, so in my first year here I did an ESOL course, and I won an award for my studies. I can see how much I progressed, I’m quite proud of myself. From my course I have improved a lot in my English communication and speaking skills.”
An went on to say: “It’s different from back home, speaking a new language, meeting new people from everywhere in the world. The teachers are really supportive here if I don’t understand I can ask and the teacher and they will explain it well to make sure that I understand fully.
“My time is busy here, Monday to Friday, working 9-5. I don’t want to miss my lessons so I have to arrange my lessons with GCSE Maths too. There’s a lot of homework from both courses, I have to arrange my weekends so I can get everything done.”
An hopes to apply for an apprenticeship in engineering when he completes his studies. His dream is to go to university once he’s got some work placement experience.
CONEL’s Assistant Principal, Marcia Summers, is raising money to support Sri Lankan women who have been sexually abused – giving them useful skills to help them earn a decent living.
Marcia said: “I am currently fundraising for 20 portable rigid heddle looms for the refuge at the ‘Women’s Development Centre’ (WDC) in Kandy, Sri Lanka, and the ‘Their Future, Today’ girls’ refuge in Galle, which is in the south of the island. The looms cost £159 each, so I am attempting to raise £3,200.
“I’m raising funds for these looms as part of a wider British Council project called Crafting Futures. We’ve put in a bid to the British Council for up to £5,000 to fund a UK-based craft practitioner to travel overseas to undertake a project with a local community to support the development of a particular craft. Krys, a very creative friend of mine, will go to Sri Lanka in April 2020 to deliver a training course at the WDC shelter on the outskirts of Kandy and another at the girls’ refuge in Galle.
“Our proposal is to teach young girls, often aged 12-21 years old, who have been sexually abused and who are living in a refuge recovering from the abuse, the skills to make beautiful hand-woven scarves.
“The idea is to give the girls/young women weaving skills along with a loom, so that when they return home or are living independently they can generate their own income through the sale of their scarves to the local tourist industry or/and via ETSY (a Global online marketplace where people make, sell and buy unique items). The girls already learn independent living skills in the shelters such as growing food, food preparation, cooking simple meals, sewing and weaving. Learning to use a heddle loom will give them a very specific skill, enabling them potentially to earn a living for themselves.
“However, there is a huge further benefit to weaving and that is weaving as therapy. Creative activities are essential for the girls to promote their well-being after the trauma they have suffered, or in the words of Pearl Stephen, the late founder of WDC, ‘to help bring the girls to a position of normalcy, post their traumatic experiences.’
“Thank you so much for your ongoing support. The success of this project will make a very significant difference to lives of vulnerable people in Sri Lanka.”
If you would like to donate any funds to support the purchase of the looms please go to Marcia’s fundraising page here or, if you would like to donate yarn, please contact Marcia via email at marciasummers@hotmail.com
Discovery Channel UK held their annual Impact Day on September 20, 2019. As part of a company-wide initiative, employees run community events across the world to benefit the local communities they work within. The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London was lucky enough to have Discovery Channel employees come in and run an employability workshop with our Media and ICT students.
The employability workshop focused on key skills that employers in the Creative Media and ICT industries are looking for, as well as giving insights into various career pathways within the respective industries.
In the workshop, the students split into two groups and were asked to create a product roadmap that outlined the key milestones when designing and building a digital service, designed exclusively for the 2020 Olympics on Eurosport.
The groups developed platforms to be released 100 days before the 2020 Olympics with the aims of driving subscribers, and creating enthusiasm and engagement. They also had to figure out how to promote the platform, whether this was through social media, email campaigns or other forms of media.
When asked about the workshop, Media student Ellis Bocking said: “The main thing we learnt today was the tips and tricks from experts in the media. They were teaching us how to be creative in different ways and in different areas within a creative team. You may be working in the analytical team with the numbers, but you still have to be creative in how you display and report them.”
Leader of the ICT workshop and Discovery’s Digital Product Manager, Paul Usherwood, said: “The students blew me away. I thought the task was going to be too difficult, but it was great to see the amazing ideas they came up with in their groups, creating a plan targeted at different countries and cultures around the world.
“Their engagement was really good. I could see that the task was getting them to think and dream big. Within the workshop we focused on collaboration by working within groups and they had to listen to each other, but then they also had to work out how to document everything. The task definitely pushed their boundaries.”
Quality & Learner Experience Manager and organiser of the event Anthony Robinson, said: “Events likes these help our learners not only in the classroom but out in the real world. This workshop has helped all participating students develop both creative and collaborative skills that will be key when pursuing a career after college.”
