Students get creative with hair and beauty

As part of the curriculum at Cire Community School, students are required to choose and participate in a ‘project day’ also known as a Personal Development Skill (PDS) class. In these classes, the students are required to work toward goals that the class set together.

Hair & Beauty PDS at Mount Evelyn campus is taught by Megan Small, and her students think she is great. Megan ensures her students get the help they need to get the results they desire. The atmosphere in the class is always a positive one because Megan adds her touch of magic to the group with the least likely students being brought together and working as a unit. The students are encouraged to step outside their comfort zone and apply themselves at things they may usually shy away from. As her students say, if you know Megan, “shy” isn’t in her vocabulary.

The way Megan tailors her curriculum means the students focus is on positive experience, not on doing school work. Megan’s students enjoy the time they have together whilst putting their new-learnt skills into action to better their community and the lives of people within that.

“My class mates are a big part of my enjoyment with this class. We are an unlikely group but we work together well. We motivate one another to persevere, we help those that fall behind and we are just a group of young girls having a good time! I consider myself very fortunate for the amazing class mates I have and how compassionate and kind they all are. It’s been a pleasure to work alongside these girls and I hope in the future they pursue all their dreams and aspirations in life because they have worked unbelievably hard to get there and they deserve it!” VCAL Student 

The Hair and Beauty class’s project for first semester encouraged the participation in volunteer work with groups such as Alexandra Gardens, an aged care facility in Donvale. The students provided the residents with companionship whilst furthering their manicure skills, painting the resident’s fingernails, giving them hand massages and spending time together with the residents chatting.

The students agree the experience was vastly different from anything they had expected. Every time, without fail, the class left with grins from ear to ear buzzing from the fun they had at Alexandra Gardens. It was fascinating for the students to hear the stories and struggles of the aged care residents and to hear how similar their lives are to the students’ lives in some ways, yet so different in other ways. The students found themselves encouraged by the residents to keep going and to follow their dreams and aspirations. Bonds were formed and Megan found herself being asked to organise another date for the class to visit.

“It’s a great feeling to give back to our community for no profit other than the grins that we all leave with. We have learnt so much from our volunteer work, it’s very clear to all students that you only get as much as you put in and we plan to take advantage of that and gain as much as we can from this semester” VCAL Student

The class also visited Megan’s Hair salon Megga Hair where they invited support groups like mothers who suffer from Post Natal Depression along to enjoy free manicures and hair styles that Megan has previously taught the students to create, this is what our students had to say…

“It’s so beautiful to see the women transform into gorgeous confident women and the feeling it fills you with is beyond extraordinary.”

“Even if I am having a bad week, every Tuesday seems to make it that little bit brighter. I think a big part of that is to do with our teacher and the enthusiasm she brings in every morning and the belief she has in each student even if we don’t have it in ourselves.”

“I’m so grateful to not only my teacher, but my class mates for making every semester in Hair & Beauty an incredible journey full of laughter and fun. It wouldn’t be possible without the hard work all parties put in and I will carry the memories I make here well into my adult life and hopefully I will one day be in a retirement home having my hand massaged by an intelligent young woman like my fellow students telling her about my experiences and life journey too.”

Hair and Beauty class student, Molly Charles, feels that Cire Community School is a space of opportunity and support. Molly moved from a mainstream school to Cire and has noticed positive changes since making the change.

“The teachers here interact with the students and are happy to go through steps showing no frustration even if they’re sitting there for an hour saying the same thing over and over. They are willing to do whatever it takes to help the kids here and teach them, but they teach so much more than maths and English. They teach life skills not just banking and all of that but how to go about things in a way that no mainstream teacher would. I value the relationships I have with my teachers at Cire because not only are they teachers they’re my mentors.” Molly – VCAL Student

Cire Community School offers a full range of VCAL programs, for further information click here or call 1300 835 235.