For International Women’s Day (8 March) we hear from two of our female Executive Group members about the challenges they faced in their academic careers and getting to their leadership positions:

“Balancing family and work has been one of the biggest challenges in progressing my academic career. Maternity leave and family responsibilities impacted my research productivity and advancement while mentoring and career counselling are often absent in academia and female academics would benefit from supporting institutional policies. There is also still a gender issue in the leadership of Business Schools as the Dean’s role is male dominated, and worldwide only 25%-30% of Business Schools have a female Dean. Mentoring and strong role models can send clear messages to aspiring women of the future who wish to embrace academic leadership.”

From Professor Marian Garcia, Dean of the Business School 

“Role-modelling is really important in supporting women into leadership positions – creating a culture where women are ‘seen’ to be in leadership positions at all stages from leading a discipline to having a female Vice Chancellor dispels the myth about what a leader should look like; there are after all many different leadership styles. Providing support and training as appropriate, such as LASR and Aurora, and also Stellar, is also key, along with appointing a mentor.”

From Prof Juliette Pattinson, Director of Division Arts and Humanities

“As a young female academic working in STEM I never questioned being in a minority group. For me this was my norm and I simply sought to find my place and navigate a pathway that was right for me at that time. Often this was very challenging and I did experience set backs, some of which undoubtably caused me to question my credibility or aspirations. The most beneficial and impactful thing that has supported my progress has been building a critical network of champions and supporters, at work and at home. This has been instrumental in enabling me to be authentically successful in achieving my ambitions, to be confident and feel credible in my roles.  

It’s important to understand everyone’s journey is unique and to celebrate what diversity brings to leadership. To encourage people to carve out a pathway to leadership that works for the and share your experiences to inspire others.” 

Prof Claire Peppiatt-Wildman, Director of Division Natural Sciences

CEMS, NATS and the UKC Women’s Network have joined forces this year to celebrate International Women’s Day with a panel discussion on ‘Women in STEM: How far have we come? What obstacles still need to be overcome?’

Our children’s holiday camps for 5-12 year olds  are coming back for 2023! Filled with daily multi-sports and activities, DBS-checked camp staff, and qualified coaching, your child will love our EasterZone holiday camp! EasterZone runs from Tuesday 11 to Friday 14 April 2023.

“Both my children loved it all. They loved the staff, said they were fun and kind to them, and they enjoyed every activity they did (including the drawing!). Really varied and great fun. Thank you.”

Children’s Holiday Camp survey feedback, 2022

Qualified coaching

Our daily timetables include various sports and activities for your child to get involved in. With traditional sports such as football, hockey, and rugby alongside new sports like endball and goalball, there’s loads to keep children entertained, regardless of their age.

We’ve also introduced some fun activities like Drums Alive and Street Dance, and we’ll close out the camp on Friday 14 April with a School Sports Day for the whole camp! You can see the full PDF camp timetable on our website.

EasterZone 2023 prices

Spaces can be booked either for individual days or the full four days. Spaces are limited so book your space early.

University of Kent staff

We’re offering University of Kent staff a 15% discount on the below rates. Please contact sportsdevelopment@kent.ac.uk to receive the discount code.

Members of the public

• One day £35 per child
• One week (four days) £120 per child

Late pick-up (15.00 to 17.00)

Our late pick-up option includes fun and engaging activities tailored to the location, such as table tennis, table football, new-age kurling, bowls, speed stacks, twister, board games, and creative drawing.

• £12 per child per day

Booking and payment

This year we’ve made the process for booking much simpler, through our new Holiday Camp booking system; LTA ClubSpark. You will need to create an account with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) first before you can book EasterZone.

Once you’ve created your account and you’re ready to book, visit the EasterZone booking page.

You will need to complete the process for each child you wish to book on to EasterZone (you only need to create the LTA account once though). Within your booking confirmation email, there will be a link to an additional details form. This contains very important information, so please make sure you complete this for each child you book on EasterZone. We will get in contact if we require additional information.

If you have any questions about our children’s holiday camps, please email sportsdevelopment@kent.ac.uk or call 01227 816391. Alternatively, please contact us if you would like to be added to our mailing list for future camps.

bOing! Family Festival is the University’s biggest community engagement event with over 10,000 people visiting the campus over the August bank holiday weekend each year. The festival is produced by the University’s Institute of Cultural & Creative Industries and welcomes both national and international artists making excellent work for children and families. Dates for this year are 26 & 27 August 2023. See more about bOing on the website.

Showcase your work

The festival is an opportunity to showcase the University’s research, innovation and engagement to a public audience. Previously the festival programme has featured forensic crime scene workshops and liquid nitrogen demonstrations by the Division of Natural Sciences, an interactive and participatory art & design exhibition by the Future Human signature research theme, virtual reality showcases by Engineering & Digital Arts and various physical workshops run by Kent Sport.

We would love to expand this offer and would welcome thoughts, ideas and pitches from academics, divisions, schools, departments, signature research themes and professional services about what you might want to bring to bOing 2023.

bOing is a family festival and attended by all ages, but we particularly look for activities which appeal to or can be suitable for children under 12.

If you have an idea you would like to pitch to be part of bOing! 2023, please email r.m.a.lees@kent.ac.uk by 31 March, detailing:

• A description of your event/activity
• Who would run the activity
• Age suitability and capacity
• What kind of space and any resources/equipment you would require

The latest art exhibition in the gallery space in the Colyer-Fergusson Building features an exploration of the art of the portrait by Canterbury-based artist, Adam De Ville.

A series of ten striking paintings reflects Adam’s interest in exploring the human condition, brought vividly to the canvas in an array of arresting paintings that pushes through the space between viewer and subject, looking to capture the essence of the moment.

The display is free to view during the building’s opening hours; there is wheelchair access, and the exhibition is on until May. Read more about the exhibition on the Music blog.

We are excited to be hosting an LTA Level 1 Tennis Assistant coaching qualification course at the Kent Indoor Tennis and Events Arena on Sunday 26 March and Sunday 4 June.

The LTA Level 1 course is ideal for tennis parents, keen players, and anyone considering a career change into sports coaching or looking to get started in tennis coaching.

There are five levels of tennis coaching in this country with the LTA and Level 1 is just the beginning, focusing mainly on assisting a qualified coach to work with children. Level 2 allows you to lead group lessons unsupervised, perhaps going into local schools. Levels 3 to 5 allow you to deliver all types of group and individual lessons with more attention to detail the higher up you go.

This is an ideal opportunity to work alongside our Tennis Development Manager and LTA Level 5 coach, Nick Skelton, as we grow our tennis programme at the University of Kent. It’s an exciting time to get involved!

The two-day course, based on the Canterbury campus, runs from 9am to 5pm both days and costs just £275. You can find more details and book onto the course on the Virtus Leisure Management website. Or to discuss the course further contact Nick at n.skelton@kent.ac.uk

Well sort of. The original play by Aeschylus has been lost bar one remining word. But it has been brought back to life by Foreign Office, the acclaimed team behind The Suppliant Women (Gulbenkian 2021), with help from experts and academics from across the globe, including some at Kent.

Egyptians will be performed between Wednesday 22 and Saturday 25 Feb at 19.30, with matinees at 14.00 on Thursday and Saturday. Tickets are £15 with a £5 student rate. Tickets can be bought from the Gulbenkian website.

As in ancient Greece, the performance uses professional actors and a community chorus – in this case of young men, including local residents and students from Kent.

It is a powerful story, with themes of migration, belonging and consent that remain vital today. The Greeks combined words, music and movement to dramatic effect, reflecting the conflict and tension of the story itself.

Set in a city destroyed by war, the victorious Egyptians demand to marry the fifty daughters of Danaos. But, strange omens, a grieving widow and a mysterious priestess — these are bleak portents for a mass wedding. As the men and women square up to their wedding night, who will finally prevail?

A panel discussion will follow the performance on Saturday 25 Feb, 14.00, chaired by Prof. David Wiles (Emeritus Professor of Drama at Exeter University) and including Egyptians director Ramin Gray alongside experts in Greek drama from the University of Kent (Dr. Rosie Wyles and Dr. Angeliki Varakis) and from the University of Oxford (Prof. Oliver Taplin, also production dramaturg).

And you can eat like a Greek! To celebrate Egyptians Gulbenkian Cafe is offering delicious Greek specials alongside our Showtime Menu every evening from 22 – 25 Feb.

Each year, the University awards a number of prizes to individual staff or teams for outstanding work in teaching and/or learning support. For 2023, colleagues are encouraged to submitted applications which address three criteria:

• Excellence in Teaching or Supporting Learning
• Dissemination and Influence
• Above and Beyond Expectations of Normal Operation.

Prizes will be at the University level, and will include both Academic and Learning Support categories. Individuals or teams can apply from all divisions and professional services teams.

The panel will be chaired by Professor Richard Reece (DVC Education & Student Experience) and will meet in April 2023. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the Learning and Teaching Conference in June 2023.

The call for applications for the 2023 prizes is now open. The closing date for applications is Thursday 6 April 2023. Please fill out the application form.

Lexie, a Nurse Prescriber with a special interest in hormone health, is a member of the British Menopause Society and is also a Newson Health Menopause Society Associate. She runs a private hormone health clinic and has had a 20+ year career in A&E, midwifery and primary care.  She regularly presents on hormone health to staff at large organisations and provides advice to corporate teams on menopause policy.

Date: Wednesday 8 February 2023

Time: 14:00-15:00

Location: Canterbury Campus, TBC

The discussion will cover:

• How hormones affect the body and what can be mitigated
• The impact of peri menopause, menopause and post menopause
• Hormone replacement therapy and the microbiome
• Hormones and the workplace
• Making informed choices with regards to short, medium and long term hormone health

The session will be introduced by Juliette Pattinson, Director of Division who occurs to support and raise awareness of the menopause and the support options available for improving hormone health and overall wellbeing.

There will be an opportunity for live Q&A during the event.

If you would like to submit an anonymous question in advance, you can email artshumspa@kent.ac.uk and this will be passed on to Lexie, who will respond with a general response (i.e. not individualised) during the discussion.

If you would like to attend, please RSVP by emailing artshumspa@kent.ac.uk so we can accommodate numbers and confirm the venue in due course.