Living with Covid

Following the recent Government announcements on ‘Living with Covid’, all legal Covid-19 restrictions in England have now ended. However, this doesn’t mean that Covid has gone away – we continue to encourage all staff to keep the health and safety of each other in mind, particularly those who are vulnerable or who have close friends or relatives who are shielding.

That means:

• Staying at home if you have Covid-19 symptoms until you have had two negative lateral flow tests 24 hours apart – you can work from home during this period if you feel able to
• Wearing a face mask in crowded indoor spaces as we have been
• Getting tested regularly if you can when you are coming onto campus

Where can I get test kits?

Test kits can be ordered online and can also be sourced from a number of community locations such as pharmacies and libraries. Unfortunately, as part of the recent Government updates we are no longer able to distribute test kits ourselves due to changes to the licences for universities.

“Responding to the impact of Covid-19 has taken an enormous effort across the University and everyone has really pulled together to help us through the worst of it. The recent Government changes move us into a different phase, with fewer restrictions in place across the country. However, lots of people will understandably have concerns around this, particularly vulnerable staff or students – it’s up to all of us to keep on thinking of others and doing the things we can to keep each other safe.” 
Martin Atkinson, Director of HR & Organisational Development

From Martin Atkinson | Director of HR and Organisational Development

Last night the Prime Minister outlined the Government’s ‘living with Covid’ plan, including an announcement that all legal Covid restrictions in England will end this Thursday. Further changes to testing provision will also follow from 1 April.

This will have a number of implications for us at Kent, with keeping our campuses safe still our key focus as it has been throughout our response to Covid. While we work through the Higher Education-specific guidance, for now all of our current recommendations remain in place – including testing regularly, isolating if you have Covid symptoms, and wearing masks in crowded indoor spaces.

I will be in touch with a further update shortly once we are clear on any changes we need to make in the weeks and months ahead.

With all good wishes,

Martin

Martin Atkinson | Director of HR & Organisational Development

The T&OD are happy to share a number of upcoming Training Opportunities, open to all staff, which will be running from February to April. A full overview on what’s on offer can be found in our latest SharePoint News Story – Training Opportunities: February – April 2022.

Here’s a glimpse of what’s on offer to you:

RPD Process and Preparation Training, Wednesday 24 February, 15.00 – 16.30

At the end of the session you will:

•Understand the purpose of appraisals (RPDs)
•Be aware of how the process for recording appraisals (RPDS) via Staff Connect
•Be able to prepare for and participate/ hold an effective, informed, transparent discussion, understanding your own needs and those of the organisation

Eligibility Checking Refresher Training, Monday 28 February, 14.00 – 15.00

This training is for staff who are current right to work signatories and who have attended the main session, but may not do right to work checks on a regular basis, or have not done a check recently and would like a refresher in the process. The training will ensure staff feel confident to continue undertaking right to work checks.

Menopause Awareness, Wednesday 2 March, 12.30 – 13.30

This Positive Pause’s empowering session is designed to help you feel more confident talking about & understanding menopause!

• Myth busting Menopause – what everyone needs to know: the phases, stages and impact on personal & work life.
• Recognising & understanding the symptoms of perimenopause & menopause.
• Outlining options & strategies available for managing symptoms.
• Signposting resources that may help.
• How to have conversations about menopause, as a woman and/or as part of the line management process.

From Nikki Hyde | Deputy Director HR and Organisational Development

Thank you to everyone involved for the prompt response to today’s campus closure following the impact of Storm Eunice. Whilst an Amber warning remains in place until 21.00, the Met Office’s ‘Red’ warning for the South East has now passed and at this stage the impact on our campuses has been largely contained. 

With the forecast improving, our assumption is that our Canterbury and Medway campuses will return to being open as normal tomorrow. Any planned activity can therefore continue as scheduled over the weekend. 

Please do continue to take care and limit any unnecessary travel into this evening while the storm continues to pass through. There are also a number of road closures and other transport disruption affecting Kent and Medway so please check ahead before you travel. 

Thanks again and safe journeys home to all of our essential workers on campus.

Nikki

Nikki Hyde | Deputy Director HR and Organisational Development

Our official Employee Assistance Programme provider, Care first offers a numbers of services and provide useful advice and support. 

Due to the stabilisting situation of Covid, they’ll be doing a side-range of webinar topics. Here’s the schedule for the next two weeks:

Week commencing 21 February 2022

Monday 21 February – ‘Your counselling call to Care first’ – This webinar provides an overview of what you can expect when making a call to the counselling help line. 
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up

Wednesday 23 February – ‘How Care first can support you’ – A webinar for awareness and how to access the EAP service provided by Care first. 
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up

Friday 25 February – ‘Supporting care givers – In line with ‘You can care week’– This session looks at the role of care givers and how compassion fatigue and burnout can impact mental health.
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up

Week commencing 28 February 2022

Monday 28 February – ‘Practical information and advice through Care first’ – The webinar provides detail about our Information Specialists and their role as part of your EAP service.
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up

Wednesday 2 March – ‘How Care first can support you’ – A webinar for awareness and how to access the EAP service provided by Care first. 
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up

Friday 4 March – ‘Regaining confidence in social interaction’ – A webinar providing tips and encouraging discussion on how to reintroduce social interaction after a difficult two years
Time: 12.00-12.30 – click on this link to sign up

If the winter blues or work stress is getting to you, it might be time to try singing the blues away!

Try something new and feel connection, create community and lift your spirits… We are delighted to invite you to join the University Community Choir, meeting weekly on Canterbury campus. 

The pandemic has been a challenging time and left many of us feeling a bit isolated. Create new connections within the University community and get away from your work and study in a relaxed and uplifting environment.

Singing in a Choir has many benefits, it’s informal, social, and helps you focus on something different as part of a group. Most importantly it’s fun!  

It’s free to join, and there are no auditions, and you don’t need to be able to read music. Come along to meet others, or bring a friend. Starting from 9 February, every Wednesday. Sign up now!   

Upcoming dates

• Wednesday 16 February, 14.00-15.00 (Grimond Lecture Theatre 3)
• Wednesday 23 February, 14.00-15.00 (Grimond Lecture Theatre 3)

Spread the word to anyone else (staff or student) who might enjoy this opportunity. If you have any questions, please email Mita Mondal

The University has started work on a scheduled Equal Pay Audit. To make this representative of the University population, your help is needed to check and, if necessary, update your equality information on Staff Connect by Friday 4 February.

The audit will update and build on the picture we gained from the 2015 audit. Data will be analysed by gender, age, ethnicity and disability, and also include some intersectional analysis which examines the impact of overlapping protected characteristics on pay.  

This data is anonymised and in order to further protect confidentiality, low response numbers are masked and not reported on.  

A Working Group comprising Human Resources, EDI staff, Union and Staff Representatives is currently working on a scoping document which will be published in due course.

To update your data, visit the ‘My Details’ and ‘My Equality Info (Edit)’ tabs from the left hand dashboard on Staff Connect.  

Are you a female student or staff member at Kent looking to develop and expand your knowledge and understanding of coaching Tennis?

Kent Sport is delighted to be offering our first tennis coach education course in our new University of Kent Indoor Tennis and Events Arena, at our Canterbury Campus.

Working in partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and Virtus Leisure Management, the LTA’s approved LTA Coach Development Centre, we are hosting the two-day LTA Level 1 Assistant: Core Training Course.

Dates:

Sunday 27 February and Sunday 3 April 2022, 9.00 – 17.00

Cost:

£100 (usually £275)

Who can sign up:

Female students and staff at the University of Kent. The course has been subsidised by the LTA to encourage and engage more females into a coaching role within the sport of tennis. This enhanced two-day qualification is ideal for tennis parents, enthusiasts, or keen players looking for the knowledge and skills to support group coaching sessions, alongside a lead Coach.

Learning outcomes include:

• Communication, organisation, and differentiation skills for group coaching
• Basic tactical, technical, physical, and mental development frameworks
• Other key assistant skills; from safeguarding to LTA Youth delivery.

LTA Assistants will be trained to assist a lead Coach at any venue. The course is designed so that sessions run by a lead Coach can be run with higher group numbers, or a session with the same group numbers can be run with higher quality. The course learning outcomes are delivered in the context of beginner level, 10 and under coaching.

However, the course covers basic knowledge and skills that are applicable for any age and any level of player. On completion of the course, LTA Assistants will be trained as a Court Supervisor and will also receive their Safeguarding Training which can be accepted as part of LTA Coach Accreditation.

For further information on the course or to book your place contact: sue.bamford@virtuslm.co.uk.

For further information or general tennis enquires at the University of Kent please email: sportsdevelopment@kent.ac.uk.

Kent Magazine returns this winter 2021/22 to bring you all the latest news, research, and stories from the Kent community. It’s available a few different ways:

• In print – we’ve posted copies to our alumni who have recently updated their postal address with us. If you haven’t received a copy but would like one, please email us with your current address and we’ll add you to the mailing list.
• On our campuses, at college receptions and in magazine stands at select locations (available from Monday 24 January).
• Online and to download as a PDF file on Issuu.com.

From graduate and staff profiles to news articles, find out what the latest edition of Kent Magazine has in store. 

Here are just some of the features included in the issue for you to enjoy:

Passing it forward – with Mike Wilkins MBE 

The alumni team caught up with Mike Wilkins MBE, who transformed sports at Kent, to hear about his life, career in football, and time at our university.

Using research to clean up our acts

In this article read about the research that a team of Kent psychologists undertook, which found that using carefully worded road signage can decrease the number of drivers leaving engines idling during queues at crossing barriers.

Abulrazak Gurnah