Mental Health is a serious subject. Nearly two-thirds of people say that they have experienced mental ill-health and evidence suggests that poor mental health is responsible for almost 13% of all sickness absence days in the UK.

One of the biggest challenges with poor mental health is removing the stigma that surrounds it. Many don’t hesitate to seek help for physical pain or problem, yet so many of us ignore emotional and mental health issues – or we feel too embarrassed, confused or scared to talk about them.

To ensure continued support for all of our staff, L&OD have arranged the following Mental Health Awareness sessions and Resilience, Emotional Intelligence and Wellbeing training sessions.

Resilience, Emotional Intelligence and Wellbeing

27 April 10.30 – 12.30 Canterbury Campus
3 June 10.30 – 12.30 Medway Campus

Mental Health training for Line Managers

24 March 9.30 – 12:30 and 13.30 – 16.30 (2 sessions)
16 June 9.30 – 12.30 and 13.30 – 16.30 (2 sessions)

During Belong and Grow Week

Mental Health training for Line Managers

19 May 9.30 -12.30

Mental Health General Awareness

19 May 13.30 -16.30

All sessions are available for booking via staff connect

Outlines

Mental Health

• This Mental Health Awareness Training discusses mental health the way you would a headache or the flu, and it encourages you to take care of yourself and those around you.
• These courses raise awareness, they explains how to approach mental health and remove stigma; and provides simple tools, tips and ideas for day-to-day wellbeing-management (for yourself and others).

The Resilience, Emotional Intelligence and Wellbeing session aims to strengthen personal resilience and build emotional intelligence

• Have an understanding and awareness of resilience and emotional intelligence
  Recognise and respond appropriately to workplace demands and pressures
• Explore ideas to overcome negative thinking and maintain a positive mind-set
  Build an individual positive projection of resilience and wellbeing in the workplace

The University is committed to protecting the privacy rights of those whose data it processes.

Whether we are processing the personal data of our students, staff, research participants or anyone else who has entrusted us with their personal data, we do so responsibly and in compliance with the law.

If we fail to meet those obligations, we lose the trust of those whose data we process. We also risk reputational damage, enforcement action and potential financial penalty.

To support staff in maintaining high standards around data protection, the Information Compliance Office has launched three new policies:

1.  Data Protection Policy 
2.  Data Breach Policy 
3.  Data Rights Policy 

They can also be viewed here under the Legal Requirements and Governance section .

By following these policies and completing their mandatory training, staff will be better able to ensure the University complies with its legal obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 and other associated legislation.

We would like to invite you to a buffet lunch as part of Kent’s International Visiting Academics Network (IVAN).

When:

Wednesday 11 March from 12.30 – 13.30

Where:

Gulbenkian Café

The network has been established to give you the opportunity to build on your existing connections at and beyond the University.

To book your place, visit the Eventbrite website.

Please email internationalevents@kent.ac.uk if you have any specific dietary requirements.

We look forward to seeing you there!

International Partnerships

We would like to make you aware of a vacancy that we are currently advertising on the University website within the Financial Reporting team.

This is an exciting role that will provide training as part of an Apprenticeship programme in accordance with the Professional Accounting Technician Standard. The successful applicant will work toward obtaining their full AAT qualification at the end of the Apprenticeship with the support of a mentor in the team.

The role is a full time post at Grade 4 on the apprenticeship scale.

Further details about the job can be found on the career webpages

Is your work digitally inclusive? Every one of us produces digital content in some form and now is the time to make sure it is accessible to everyone.

All our digital content should ‘perceivable, operable, understandable and robust’ in accordance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA accessibility standard.

Why is this important?

Not only is this a great way to make Kent a more accessible place to work and study, but there is a legal deadline too. The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations (2018) requires the University to make sure digital content is accessible to everyone by September 2020. So now is the time to start taking action!

What we are doing already:

• Site Editor – the new web template, is designed to be highly accessible. Digital guidelines are being shared with schools and departments to help prepare content for these webpages.

• A plugin in Moodle called Blackboard Ally is used by the majority of academic schools and professional service departments to make content more accessible. If you would like access to, Blackboard please contact opera@kent.ac.uk.

• Accessibility statements for the kent.ac.uk domain as well as Moodle.

Ensuring that all our work compliments the Kent Inclusive Practices (KIPs) that the University has already endorsed.

What you can do:

• Keep your digital content simple and efficient

• Make sure text is accessible to other applications

• Structure text with style sheets/semantic tags

• Ensure text can be personalised and reflows when magnified

• Always add short image descriptions, or alt-tags

• Use descriptive words in links

Check your content with the inbuilt Accessibility Checker in Microsoft Office 365

Find out more…

For more information, see the University’s digital guidelines. You can also find out more about how the University is rolling out the regulations on the digital accessibility e-learning package in Moodle.

Make a date in your diary for Thursday 11 and Friday 12 June 2020 for the Kent Digital Conference on Canterbury campus. For more event details and to book your free place, visit the Eventbrite website.

We want to make sure everyone is ready by September 2020 so look out for further content over the next few months! Any questions, please contact opera@kent.ac.uk 

The Accessibility Team (OPERA) 

Latest information on coronavirus, including updates and FAQs for staff, students and members of the public, is available on our coronavirus website.

The University has not been notified of any confirmed cases of coronavirus amongst our students, staff or visitors.

Our Coronavirus Response Group, led by Professor Christina Hughes, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience, will continue to monitor the situation and is following the advice of Government agencies, including Public Health England, Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the NHS.

Based on this advice, the University is fully open for business as usual. All our campus facilities and buildings are open.

As you may be aware, the Gulbenkian was informed on Sunday (1 March) that a family member of two cast members of the National Theatre ‘Connections’ production had tested positive for coronavirus. As a result, these cast members were advised to self-isolate as a precaution. The University sought the advice of Public Health England, and advised that no further action was required. The Gulbenkian continues to operate as normal.

For staff that may have travelled to one of the affected areas, or come into contact with someone who has, please follow the Public Heath England guidance. If you are concerned, please ring NHS on 111 or visit 111 online.

All students, staff and visitors in the UK are advised by the NHS to follow basic hygiene good practice in order to prevent the spread of germs and infection. Our coronavirus website includes the latest NHS public health campaign.

If you have any questions or concerns about the virus, please do make use of the NHS 111 service. You can also make use of our recently launched Employment Assistance Programme, which offers easy access to accredited counsellors. You can find out more about the service and how to access it on our Staff News webpages.

We will ensure that further updates on coronavirus and the University’s response are published as soon as possible on our coronavirus website.

Universities UK has announced that staff, students and parents who have queries about coronavirus can contact a new Department for Education helpline: 0800 046 8687 (8am-6pm, Monday-Friday).

If you have any enquiries on our response to coronavirus, or wish to find out more about what the University is doing, please email the Coronavirus Response Group: covid19@kent.ac.uk