FAQs for Parents

Below are the answers to a number of questions we are regularly asked by parents.

1. My Son/Daughter is interested in a career in Hairdressing/Beauty Therapy. Is this a good career option for them?
2. Can you give me some examples of the career paths?
3. What is the down side of wanting a career in the Hair and Beauty Industry?
4. What are the up sides of wanting a career in the Hair and Beauty Industry?
5. Who are Oracle Training Consultants?
6. What is the difference between work based and school or college?
7. How would my child apply to come to Oracle Training?
8. What are the different levels available at Oracle Training?
9. What is the current salary for Apprentices?
10. What safeguarding measures does Oracle have to help ensure the safety of my child?
11. What other activities will my child be involved in at Oracle?
12. How can I find out about my child’s progression through their qualification?

1. My Son/Daughter is interested in a career in Hairdressing/Beauty Therapy. Is this a good career option for them?
The Hair and Beauty Industry is a multi billion pound industry with many different career paths. Being predominantly a customer service industry it is essential that your Son/Daughter likes working with people. To work in the industry you need to have a real passion and interest in it; many jobs available will include long hours and weekend work and they will have to work hard to gain recognition. Saying that the career opportunities are vast and it is a truly inspiring industry to be part of.
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2. Can you give me some examples of the career paths?
Salon work is one of the first jobs many hairdressers/beauty therapists work in, many continue to work in Salon’s throughout their career, continually updating their skills and knowledge and adapting their techniques to keep at the cutting edge of industry trends, many eventually progress into having their own Salon. Other parts of the industry include working in health spa’s or cruise ships, working for product companies, retail, working in stage or TV, session work in the fashion industry, progressing on to Higher Education to further their skills in management, teaching or to follow a career path into product development or physical therapy. The list is endless and the development of customer service skills will mean your Son/Daughter will have essential skills that easily transfer into any career.
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3. What is the down side of wanting a career in the Hair and Beauty Industry?
This industry is very competitive. Although there is a high level of job opportunities, there is also a high level of individuals wanting those opportunities. Your Son/Daughter will need to be motivated and inspired by this industry and really want to progress. The hours are long, the initial pay is minimal and working with the general public is extremely tiring.
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4. What are the up sides of wanting a career in the Hair and Beauty Industry?
Being part of an ever changing, ever evolving Industry is very exciting. Learning new techniques, meeting people from all different backgrounds, working as part of a team are all motivating and inspiring. Progression is constant and you never need to be bored!
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5. Who are Oracle Training Consultants?
We are a work based training provider who specialise in programmes for the Hair and Beauty Industry; specifically Apprenticship training. We are one of South Yorkshire’s largest specialist providers and have three centres throughout South Yorkshire.
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6. What is the difference between work based and school or college?
A work based provider works closely with Employers to provide a true vocational ‘work based’ pathway. The majority of our learners are on an Apprenticeship which means they are already employed in a Salon and come to one of our training centres once a week for off the job training. All our programmes involve work or work placement with a local Salon to support the learners in developing the skills needed in the work place by working in the work place. Some colleges do offer Apprenticeships but many other programmes in other institutions are work ‘related’ which means that they are predominately classroom based and simulated.
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7. How would my child apply to come to Oracle Training?
They can apply on line through our website, through the local area prospectus or through the national Apprenticeship Vacancy Service – both of which have links in the links section of our website. If applying through our web site, once they have completed the Skills and Knowledge Session, their application will be processed and they will be invited to a one to one interview which will ultimately determine which programme is the right pathway for your Son/Daughter’s academic level. Oracle has an effective progression route through all pathways giving individuals the time, support and opportunity to progress through each level to reach their own level of capability. All programmes are government funded for those aged between 14-18 years old. We also have a limited amount of funding for those aged 19+, further information would be given at interview.
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8. What are the different levels available at Oracle Training?
There are several entry routes onto programmes. The first of these could be through a pre 16 school programme. Another option is to enter on a Foundation programme or, depending on the application and academic level; they could enter straight through the Apprenticeship route.
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9. What is the current salary for Apprentices?
Apprentices are all employed in local Salons and need to complete a minimum of 30 hours and a maximum of 40 hours paid employment, this includes their training day at Oracle. As of August 2011 the minimum wage for Apprentices increased to £2.60 per hour, which would give a full time Apprentice working in a Salon for 40 hours a weekly wage of £104 
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10. What safeguarding measures does Oracle have to help ensure the safety of my child?
Oracle has a safeguarding policy that is available from all centres. We work with young people from the age of 14 upwards and the safety of every one of our learners is important to us. Measures are in place throughout the centres and include; security locks and key pad/buzzer entry to all, we have a thorough induction process that includes all learners meeting and receiving contact details for two members of staff, one being their trainer/assessor and the other being the operational director. All staff are advanced CRB checked and each centre has at least three members of staff who are first aiders.

All work placements are safety vetted and risk banded; reviews occur frequently with the learners and employers, Salons are visited at least every six weeks and are contacted by phone every week. In centre we have Learner evaluations and ‘talk to me tanks’ that all learners place comments in at any time; allowing more vulnerable learners the opportunity to ask for help. Learners are given the opportunity to complete an emergency first aid course while with us and Health and Safety and Keeping Safe are also part of the curriculum.

We have a texting facility for school and *parents which texts daily attendance and we have a lead safeguarding appointed person and four safeguarding officers; one in each centre, all who hold a minimum level 3 qualification in Safeguarding. These are just a few of the measures we have in place to ensure that the learning experience is an enjoyable but safe one for all.
*Parents wanting to receive attendance texts need to contact the centre manager to activate.
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11. What other activities will my child be involved in at Oracle?
At Oracle we are very much advocates of ‘value added’ activities. All learners are given opportunities to go to exhibitions and trade fairs to see up and coming trends of the industry, we also have guest speakers who periodically will hold workshops for our young people to inspire them to develop their skills – from competence to excellence.

Oracle holds internal competitions and encourages learners to apply for external competitions to gain further confidence and recognition. Several times a year we welcome students from our sister schools in europe, we are a partner organisation for the Leonardo D’Vinci exchange programme and have for the past three years had annual exchanges to Japan, Malta and Belgium. All programmes include equality and diversity awareness training and all learners are encouraged to reach their potential – no matter what that potential is.
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12. How can I find out about my child’s progression through their qualification?
All our learners have regular reviews; how regular depends on the programme they are on. All learners are given action plans with targets that they must work towards and each programme has a set of milestone targets which breaks the qualification up into manageable chunks. All learners receive a copy of these action plans which we encourage them to use as a tick list to mark off each task as it is completed. All reviews are recorded on our data base and a print out is available to parents on request. You can also request an informal meeting at any time with the centre manager to discuss your Son/Daughters progress or any issues you or they may have.
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If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ring one of our centres and speak to the centre manager.

We want to encourage a good communication link with parents, however it is important to mention that these programmes are all designed to lead your child into adulthood and part of that is to grow in confidence and become responsible for their own actions, with this in mind we do not generally contact parents unless they have requested information, if there is a need for us to gain your consent for a trip or there is an issue that needs your direct attention.
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