Monthly Archives: August 2019

Brush up your language skills or learn British Sign Language

Kent staff are eligible for reduced fees on the eight ‘Language Express’ world language courses run by the Centre for English and World Languages. You can choose from Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian or Spanish at Canterbury, or French and Japanese at Medway.

The fees for staff are £269 for 40 hours of classes during the autumn and spring terms. Courses start in October and most classes take place in the evening.

As a member of staff, you can apply for 50% funding towards the course fees, whether or not the language studied is relevant to your role at the University. You may be awarded 100% funding if the language studied is directly linked to your current role. Please apply for funding via Learning and Organisational Development

CEWL also offers Level One and Level Two British Sign Language courses. The fees are £458 and £680. Please note that the funding does not apply to these two courses.

Find out more and book your place on the CEWL website

Success at TUCO Awards for Kent Hospitality

Congratulations are in order for the catering team at Kent Hospitality as they were awarded the prestigious ‘Member of the Year’ Award at the 2019 TUCO (The University Caterers’ Organisation) Annual Conference earlier this month, held at the University of York.

The award recognises the institution that has made the most significant contribution to the work of TUCO with Kent praised for their support of framework agreements, attendance at events, training courses, tender working parties and other activities. The other two shortlisted Institutions were the University of Manchester and the University of St Andrews.

Head of Trading, Keith Williams said on the win: ‘Our team are delighted to have won this award reflecting the efforts put in to bring a quality service to Kent. We have played an active role in TUCO over the last few decades, recognising it as the perfect platform to benchmark against competitors, train and develop our team and benefit from leading market research and trend data by remaining up to date on industry standards and contributing to the work of TUCO. To have this recognised is a great honour.’

TUCO is the leading professional membership body for in-house caterers operating in the higher, further education and public sector. They are committed to advancing the learning and development of catering and hospitality teams, and work to provide quality standards, advice and information to those working in in-house catering.

Thank you!

Thank you to the hundreds of staff who took the time yesterday to call the Clearing hotline to help with the stress testing needed to ensure that we were fully functional in time for this morning’s Clearing activities.

Although we offer our applicants a web-first approach, we receive calls to the hotline not just from applicants, but from prospective students asking about a wide range of issues ,from grade outcomes to accommodation, and from those wanting reassurance about their offer of a place.

Thanks to the efforts of staff, and those of the specialist teams in EMS, IS and Estates, we opened the hotline at 07.00 today (Thursday 15 August) confident that it would be able to handle the volume of calls we are expecting.

A special thanks also to the hotline operators, a team of 60 students, for all their hard work in testing the hotline.

Japan Festival 14 August

Come and have a go at Japanese crafts and meet students from Kobe, Kogakkan and Musashino at our free event on 14 August.

You will be able to try your hand at a range of traditional Japanese arts and crafts, such as calligraphy and origami. The event takes place at the Centre for English and World Languages in the Chipperfield atrium from 5pm-6:30 pm. Everyone is welcome!

Link to venue on campus map.

Running Workshop 2019

On Saturday 31 August 10am to 1pm, the Kent Sport Physiotherapy Clinic would like to invite members, non-members and local runners to the fifth informative running workshop. In this workshop, we will be looking at strength and conditioning.

The workshop will be split in to two sessions:

First session: We will re-visit running drills as there is always room for improvement.
Second session: We will look at strength training exercises to improve running performance and reduce risk of injury. For those who wish to practise with weights, this will be available too.

Where: The Pavilion, University of Kent, Canterbury campus, CT2 7SR.

Who: Open to members and non-members. All abilities welcome.

Cost: £10 per person with complimentary tea and coffee on arrival and £5 off your next sports massage or physiotherapy session.

Payment: Must be made before the event by visiting reception at the Sports Centre or the Pavilion.

To register: Either email your application form to: physio@kent.ac.uk or mail / drop it off to the Physiotherapy Clinic.

What to bring: Running gear if you would like to complete parkrun first, plus additional running attire that is both comfortable to sit in during the lecture and then straight into the practical elements.

For more information, please visit our Website.

Hello Kent welcome campaign update

Every year we run our welcome campaign for new and returning students.

This year the welcome campaign is a joint University and Kent Union project and is part of the Hello Kent initiative, an outcome of the Welcome, Induction and Transition project commissioned by Student Experience Board.

The campaign will feature on buses and bus stops, buildings and poster sites, e-newsletters and digital screens as well as t-shirts worn by helpers and even a Hello Kent tent run by Kent Union.

The main welcome website, which includes advice blogs and events, is now live: www.kent.ac.uk/hello

Hello Kent branded images and templates for posters and plasma screens are now available to download from the branding website

Schools will receive printed Hello Kent marketing packs over the next few days.

If you have any questions or want to learn more, contact communications@kent.ac.uk

Alumni theatre company Last Fleet Theatre at the Camden Fringe

Last Fleet Theatre, a theatrical company formed by a trio of Kent graduates, is currently performing a show at the Camden Fringe.

The show is entitled Is This The End For Captain Space? Captain Space has always compared herself to the likes of earth legends Han Solo and Captain Kirk, only much cooler, and with better hair. She has spent her life traversing the galaxy, righting wrongs and having high concept adventures. But when she finds herself in danger, she is forced to ask: ‘Is this the end for me?’

With only the ship’s computer for company, Captain Space faces her greatest challenge yet… herself! Will she be content with all those unsaid goodbyes, unresolved arguments and loves still lost? It is an intimate two-hander exploring love, loss and loneliness in a science-fiction world.

It stars Isobel Hamilton, who recently graduated with a BA (Hons) in Drama and Theatre in July 2019, along with Fergus Macdonald, who graduated with a BA (Hons) in Drama and English and American Literature in 2014. The play is written by alumnus Richard Yuill, who graduated with a BA (Hons) in Drama and Theatre in 2014.

The show is currently running at the Actors Centre in central London until Saturday 10 August, starting 6.15pm. There will be a 2.30pm matinee on the final Saturday. Tickets cost £12/£10.

For full details, please see the page here.

PhD student Kasia Senyszyn writes on accessible theatre for The Stage

Kasia Senyszyn, who is studying for a PhD in Drama by Research in the School of Arts, supported by the Alumni Postgraduate Research Scholarship, has just contributed an opinion piece for The Stage on making theatre inclusive.

Established in 1880, The Stage is a British weekly newspaper for the entertainment industry, with a particular focus on theatre.

In her article, entitled ‘It’s Time For Action, Not Excuses, On Inclusive Theatre’, Kasia argues for the need for theatres to make their shows more accessible and inclusive.

‘Tagging things as ‘accessible’ in a programme also implies only that work is accessible to everyone, which is often not the case,’ she argues in the piece. ‘For example, dance is often accessible for D/deaf people. A poetry reading is often accessible for visually impaired people. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need to tag something as ‘accessible’ because everything would be. For now, I suppose, we need it. But in reality, it’s just about being more explicit about what our work includes.’

However, drawing on her PhD research, Kasia makes suggestions for changes that theatres can easily make. ‘There are real things that theatre companies can do, even those on a budget like many at the [Edinburgh] fringe. A projector and PowerPoint can be used to do captions in your show. YouTube can add automatic captions to videos… An audio brochure or programme can be done with you recording the written material yourself on SoundCloud.’

Kasia is artistic director of the Parrot Theatre Company, which will be performing an accessible version of Mark Wilson’s play Talk at the Edinburgh Festival from Sunday 11 August until Saturday 17 August 2019. For details of these performances, please see the page here.

To read the full piece, please see The Stage site here.

Kent Sport membership for everyone!

Kent Sport is excited to announce new membership options for 2019/20 available to buy online or at the Sports Centre and The Pavilion receptions from Sunday 1 September.

In December 2018, Kent Sport and Kent Union launched the #FitForPurpose survey. Students and staff were able to have their say on Kent Sport membership and what they wanted out of their membership options. We listened to what you said and have made changes to our membership options.

Whether you want an all-inclusive membership or to use the gym and classes or even just to try a new sport – we have options for everyone.

• Premium Plus – Our all-inclusive membership combines the benefits of Premium and Plus. Enjoy discounted physiotherapy and massage, exclusive offers at The Pavilion Café Bar, bike hire, seven-day advance booking, and UNIversal BUCS membership.
• Premium – This option gives you unlimited gym access, entry to all fitness classes, free access to our Let’s Play activities, and five-day advance booking. Additional activities available (fees apply).
• Plus – With free access to club training sessions*, intramural sports club entry, free recreational sports bookings, and five-day advance booking, this option is great for those looking to use primarily the facilities. Additional activities available (fees apply).
• Pay to Play £5 – Our low commitment option gives you the flexibility to play when you want, with a fee per session.

Make sure you check the benefits table to see what is available for each membership option.

“Over 2,500 students and staff filled out the survey, so thank you so much for making your voices heard! We hope these changes will greatly enhance the student experience.” – Emily Window, Vice-President (Sports)

We have listened to your requests for a more varied membership offering, giving you the opportunity to get active the way you want. We hope you love the new membership options and look forward to seeing you at Kent Sport!

“I would absolutely encourage all new students to get involved in sport. Even if you’ve not really played sport before coming to campus, there are so many different ones available of varying levels of ability and seriousness. Engagement in sport has 100% been my fondest memory of being at University.” – Ieuan Gale, Scholar of the Year 2018/19

For more details about all membership options, benefits, and terms and conditions at Kent Sport, visit kent.ac.uk/sports/membership.

To stay up-to-date with the latest Kent Sport news, activities and special offers, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @UniKentSports.

SARD took on Gung-Ho! to raise money for KMMS

On Saturday 13th July, staff from medical technology company, SARD, joined friends and family to form a team of 11 to take on Gung-Ho! the world’s biggest inflatable 5km run to raise money for the Kent and Medway Medical School. They have selected KMMS as their Charity of the Year and this is one of a number of fundraising initiatives they are taking part in to raise £5,000 for this cause. Through this event they have so far raised £475 (including Gift Aid) and would be thrilled if you would consider supporting them through their JustGiving page.

Two of the team tackling Gung-Ho! were current University of Kent students Jordan Montford-Robinson (1st year Computer Science student) and Ash Barton (2nd year Computing with a year in industry student) who are currently on a work placement with SARD. Of their experience, Jordan said: “I am currently on a summer placement with SARD and when they asked for people to join their team for Gung-Ho! I jumped at the chance. It was a great opportunity to get to know my colleagues better, take part in a personal challenge and support the extremely important work of the Kent and Medway Medical School. This is a great project which will be an asset to the University of Kent, Canterbury Christ Church University, our local community and the county of Kent. I am proud to play a part in fundraising for this cause and urge others to support it too.”

We would like to thank SARD for their support and wish them well for their future events.

If you would like to support KMMS by taking part in a sponsored event, please contact Katie Barnsdale (Community Fundraising Intern).