Talented students from Riverside College are celebrating an outstanding performance at the national finals of WorldSkills UK after their hard work and commitment resulted in them coming home with an impressive haul of two golds, a silver and two bronze medals.
After competing in the virtual preliminary rounds, the students were able to display their talents in person at the live finals which took place at Wexham College in November, with the winners announced by TV presenter Steph McGovern from her Channel 4 Packed Lunch Studio on 26th November.
Nail students Georgia Durr and Sophie Logan, Media Makeup student Leah Allender and the Accountancy Technician team of Matthew McCormick and Aeneas Bates competed against other top students from around the nation to prove they are the best in the country in their disciplines. Alongside displaying the technical skills they have developed during their course at Riverside College, the students had to demonstrate a professional demeanour, follow safe working practices, have a professional attitude, have effective interaction with clients and use effective time management.
After an intense week of competition, the students had a nervous wait for the live result before celebrating, with Leah receiving a Gold Medal for Commercial Makeup, Georgia picking up the Gold and Sophie the Silver Medal for the Nail Technician competition, and Matthew and Aeneas awarded bronze for the Accountancy Competition.
Media Makeup winner Leah, previously from Penketh High School said, “I was over the moon to find out I had won the gold medal. All of my tutors were incredible during the preparation process for the final competition, I definitely could not have done it without them.”
Lyn Rhodes, Head of the Centre of Excellence for Hair, Beauty, Nails and Media Makeup said, “This was an amazing event for everyone involved. We are very proud of the incredible achievements our students have made at this prestigious competition. All of the students who took part in the finals have worked very hard throughout the year in preparation and it really paid off. They all displayed great creativity, talent, skill and professionalism throughout; they are a credit to Riverside College.”