Monthly Archives: May 2022

South by South East festival comes to the Gulbenkian Arts Centre

South by South East is an annual festival of creativity held on our Canterbury campus at the Gulbenkian Arts Centre. Over two days (11 & 12 May 2022) the festival combines the opportunity for artists to develop and showcase projects in development, and for audiences to see new and emerging work being made in Kent and Essex.

This year’s line-up includes works of dance, multi-disciplinary work, immersive installations, cabaret and spoken word. It is not just for industry, there are free, outdoor events you can join next week – and tickets available for a number of the performances. So please come along and see what’s new!

Producers of the festival, 1DegreeEast, are bringing the South by South East back to Gulbenkian for its second year. The Festival supports the aim of the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries (iCCi) to position the University as a key player in the development of the arts in Kent.

Find out more by visiting the Gulbenkian Arts Centre website.

Here’s just some of the things that you can enjoy during the week:

Wednesday 11 May

Fish out of Water – 12.15 – on the Registry lawn (free & no ticket required)

Fish Out Of Water is a fresh, multi-disciplinary outdoor dance performance, which explores themes of belonging, otherness, displacement, and migrancy.

Boogie Booth – 1.30 – on the Registry lawn (free & no ticket required)

Boogie Booth is a live performance and dance experience. Visitors will meet our resident BoogieBoothers, Karl & Faith, who will take you on a spectacular tour through the world of dance from Jazz, Hip-Hop, to Roma dancing, all within the magical Boogie Booth.

Speaking out & Fitting In! – 3.30 – at the Gulbenkian (£5 per ticket)

“Speaking Out and Fitting In” is a solo show in dynamic poetry and beguiling prose, with flashes of cabaret and aerial burlesque, in which Alice d’Lumiere playfully explores the wonderful, if occasionally counter-intuitive, position of the gender-fluid individual striving to both fit in to another gender whilst yearning to establish a unique, personal voice for themselves.

Thursday 12 May

Simorgh Soup – Barking Trees – 2:45 – at the Gulbenkian Theatre, free but ticketed

A wild new dance theatre production exploring Spinoza’s ethics and our relationship to nature and technology

Finding an Audience Online – 4.45 – at the Gulbenkian Theatre (£5 per ticket)

Comedian and creator of the internet sensation The Room Next Door, Michael Spicer joins broadcaster and writer Katie Puckrik to talk about making comedy under the radar for over twenty years before using social media to make the breakthrough.

11 & 12 May – In Her Shoes Exhibition – at the Colyer-Fergusson Foyer (free & no ticket required)

In Her Shoes is an immersive installation experience exploring the concepts of identity, stereotypes, and relationship to home. Your 20-minute adventure begins as you step inside a shoe shop built for one.

Kent Sport Health and Wellbeing survey

Let us know how we can shape our services to suit your health and wellbeing needs.

We all know that there are many physical and mental benefits to leading an active lifestyle. We also know that for some, there are barriers that can prevent us from being active.

Kent Sport is keen to understand the barriers to exercise for students and staff on campus, and how we can improve our service to allow more of our audience to get active.

The Kent Sport Health and Wellbeing survey is online, and accessible for desktop, tablet, and mobile users. There are only 15 questions, and it should take between 5-10 minutes to complete.

By filling out the online survey, two lucky winners will each win a £75 Amazon voucher. Simply enter your Kent email address at the end of the survey to be entered into the prize draw (one entry per person).

The survey is open now until 5pm on 13 June 2022, with winners of the Amazon vouchers being announced on 14 June.

Complete the survey online or email us at sportsenquiries@kent.ac.uk if you have any questions.

Ready to start building your digital skills?

Your Digital Pathway is a new, free digital skills course from Santander in
collaboration with the Institute of Coding, and the award winning
TechUP initiative based at Durham University.

With 50,000 places available, the course is designed to help if you want
to take the first step on the pathway to building your digital skills, and
can support you to:

Return to, or start education
Return to or start work, or to pivot your career
Set up a business online

We know that everyone has a different digital skills starting point.

The course is taught at an introductory level and includes up to 8 hours
of content which can be completed in your own time, and at your
own pace.

Everyone who completes the course will receive a certificate of
achievement and will also be entered into a prize draw for the chance
to win one of 88 Santander grants worth up to £2,500 (T&Cs apply),
available to use on the tailored Santander Aspire webstore to purchase
a range of items including laptops, tablets and Chromebooks.

Registration for Your Digital Pathway is now open and applications
close on 29 June 2022.

Find out more about the course and how to apply.

2022 Kent Staff Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Awards

Do you know a member of staff who has made a difference through their Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) work this year?

We recognise that EDI is the work of everyone and changes in daily practice make big impacts in the lives of those around us. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is ongoing work.

It requires continuous learning and relearning, with the understanding that there is often no end point, and that’s why we want to make sure this work does not go unnoticed.

We want to celebrate all the staff members who have made Kent a more inclusive community.

So, if you know of someone who has championed EDI in any way this year, let us know! Maybe someone has listened to your feedback and changed their practice to make it more inclusive?

Or perhaps you’ve noticed a small but significant action that someone in your team has made, that has changed your experience at work for the better? Whatever the action, big or small, we want to hear about it!

You can submit as many nominations as you want – we have so many fantastic members of staff working on EDI initiatives all year round.

An afternoon of tea and cake will take place on 8 June to celebrate the nominees.

Click here to nominate a staff member

Nominations will close at 8.00 on 24 May 2022. Invitations to the awards tea (on 8 June) will be issued on 31 May.

Enhancing your mental health during the Summer Term

The start of the Summer Term coincides with Mental Health Awareness Week. We appreciate the Summer Term can be stressful as you manage your exams and other deadlines and commitments.

Here are some ideas for boosting your mental health this term:

Connect with others – reach out to friends and family. Plan when you can next meet up, so you have something to look forward to. You can also check out the Student Support and Wellbeing events calendar for ways to meet new people such as the Walking Buddy and Just Coffee initiatives.
Get out in nature – spending time in nature can have huge benefits for our mental health. If you’re at Medway, the Rochester Lawn has benches, a covered area and a trail gym for you to explore. Based at Canterbury? Check out the new Canterbury Wellbeing Map and discover more places to relax and unwind. We’re super lucky to have the Kent Community Oasis Garden at our Canterbury campus (located at the end of Park Wood). Join students, staff and members of the community on Wednesdays and Fridays 10.00-14.00 for a relaxed gardening session.
Exercise regularly– exercise is a great way to let go of frustrations and improve your mood as well as increase your fitness. Kent Sport’s ALL Active programme is back this term with plenty of non-competitive, turn-up-and-play sessions. No experience or equipment needed. You could also join a community bike ride with other Kent students.
Get enough sleep – sleep is vital to allow both your body and mind to recharge. If you struggle with your sleep, check out this free online Togetherall course: How to Improve Your Sleep.
Eat well and stay hydrated – we all know that eating well and drinking plenty of water is good for us, but we often forget just much it can affect our mood. Check out the Blurt foundation’s blogpost about foods that boost mood and energy.

Mental Health Team at Student Support and Wellbeing

The Mental Health Team consists of Mental Health Advisers, Counsellors and Student Mentors. Mental Health Advisers are specialist practitioners who can offer mental health advice and support. They can provide short term focused interventions to promote wellbeing and support students to develop coping strategies and help put in place an ILP or ‘inclusive learning plan’ if required. We also have a free confidential Counselling service for all Kent students, offering a safe space to those experiencing problems such as anxiety, depressed feelings, and emotional difficulties that may or may not be connected to student life.

Togetherall – 24/7 support

Togetherall offers 24/7 online mental health support by peers, with free courses, message boards, self-assessments and articles on many topics. It’s overseen by qualified therapists and free for Kent students.

Mental Health Partner organisation: Spectrum Life – out of office hours support

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or need emergency in the moment crisis support outside of Student Support and Wellbeing working hours, our external partners Spectrum Life can offer you online, text and telephone support from qualified counsellors and mental health professionals.

Student Support and Wellbeing Services Survey

Have you used Student Support and Wellbeing Services at Kent this academic year? If you’d like to give your feedback and be in with a chance of winning £50, complete this online survey.

Learn more about mental health support at Kent.

‘Penne’ for your thoughts – catering focus groups

We want to make some changes to the way we do food on campus, but we need your help.

If you know your pad thai from your panini, then we want to hear from you!

Help shape the future of food at the University of Kent and earn £20 credit on your KentOne Card by taking part in one of our focus groups.

Michael Crick encourages staff to volunteer at our celebration ceremonies

Michael Crick, University Council Member, volunteered his time to help at the March graduation celebrations and enjoyed it so much he has done so again this month.

In this message he encourages his fellow Kent staff to join the celebrations for our 2021 graduates in Rochester Cathedral on 11 May, and Canterbury Cathedral from 16 – 20 May. You can sign up online here or email congregations@kent.ac.uk.

I became a lay member of the council of the university last autumn, but during my first few months on the council it was difficult to get a proper feel for the university because of Covid restrictions.

Then I saw an appeal in the email news bulletin for volunteers to help out on graduation days. “Why not?” I thought. I’ll do one day in each of the four sessions in 2022, and it will be great way to meet recent students, their families, and members of staff, and to immerse myself in what the university is all about.

I did two ceremonies one day in Canterbury a couple of weeks ago. I loved it. I was kitted out in a blue and gold gown (strictly it should only have been blue only.) I helped with laying the programmes on the seats and in guiding people to their places, but then I was asked to hand out the graduation certificates.

I was in my element. As each new graduate walked past I gave them a big smile to catch their eye, and then handed over the certificate whispering a few words, trying to vary what I said each time, or making a joke of it, say, when someone got an especially loud cheer from their friends. I was meeting people for only for 2-3 seconds, but it felt like making friends for life – almost 400 in one day!

There was also plenty of time both before and after the formal ceremony to speak to people about what they thought of the university and the course they’d studied. I’m actually quite a shy person, but as a TV reporter I’ve learnt how to seize the moment and go up to strangers, introduce myself and chat to them (and the blue and gold gown helped on this occasion). One trick outside on the lawn was to approach a group taking photos of themselves, and offer to take a photo of all of them altogether. They almost always accepted – it broke the ice and the conversation flowed.

My abiding memory is the sheer joy of the occasion. This was one of the exciting, memorable days of these new graduates’ lives, taking part in a great historic setting, the culmination of several years hard work. Now for one day free of work and pressure, they were joined by their proud parents, families and friends. It was great to take part in that, to share their happiness and sense of achievement, to watch young men and women setting off on their careers and new lives.

I can’t wait to do it again, and I strongly recommend to all university staff and also my fellow council members, that they volunteer for a ceremony or two.