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Meet Jenna, FE Hair and Beauty Curriculum Co-ordinator
Jenna Ratcliffe, FE Curriculum Co-ordinator for Hair and Beauty
Jenna brings a wealth of experience to her role as a beauty and sports therapy lecturer at Weston College.
After qualifying, Jenna quickly found her feet in the industry, setting up her own business aged just 19. She has since spent 16 years in the industry and now shares her experiences with emerging therapists.
“After spending time in education, a passion was ignited,” said Jenna.
“I feel honoured to be part of young people’s journey from education to industry.”
Jenna is a Beauty and Sports therapy lecturer, teaching across Level 2 and 3 programmes.
As Curriculum Co-ordinator she is passionate about leading the team to success, developing learner experience by embedding competitions into the curriculum and providing opportunities outside of the classroom. Since taking this role, our learners have won medals at competitions with half of these being first places and one learner being selected for the WorldSkills UK development squad.
“I work with learners to achieve excellence both within their studies and through industry events, such as the WorldSkills competitions,” she said.
“I’m also an internal quality assurer and staff mentor and work with staff to develop their resilience skills. Through my quality assurance I’m able to monitor the skills of learners entering industry, ensuring they are able to progress into meaningful employment once they’ve completed their studies.”
Jenna, herself, was inspired to follow a career in beauty therapy after being bullied at school.
“During secondary school I experienced bullying, and found my release to be mindfulness,” she said.
“Because of that, I wanted to a career where I could help people feel positive about themselves.
“When deliberating which career route to take, I utilised Year 10 work experience opportunities to inform my decision.
“Working in a hair salon didn’t fit my personality and, during my second week, I had a placement at a beauty salon. It was here that I felt inspired and enjoyed the calmness of the salon.”
This encouraged Jenna to apply for a beauty therapy course, which suited her perfectly and enabled her to broaden her experience.
“During my beauty therapy course, I had the opportunity to explore spa life,” she said. “I went to the famous Sanctuary Spa in Covent Garden, where I gained valuable experience.”
After completing the course, Jenna never looked back and has this advice for those looking to follow in her footsteps:
“Don’t allow anyone to tell you that you are not good enough – prove them wrong and achieve excellence!”