The University was very sorry to hear that Marianne Du Sautoy had passed away peacefully at home on 14 November 2020.

Marianne joined the University in 2005 as PA to Professor Keith Mander, former Deputy Vice-Chancellor, after previously working in London and relocating to her beautiful cottage in Kent.

Marianne had a strong, colourful personality and made quite an impact at the University from the start.  She could appear quite terrifying on first meeting, but in reality she combined years of experience, consummate professionalism, great attention to detail, kindness and charm, so that whatever needed to be done was done, and done well. With Marianne, there was also an air of fun and excitement, not to mention the most vibrant wardrobe, shoe and bag collection ever seen in the corridors of the Registry!

Marianne retired from the University in 2015 and went on to spend much of her time travelling – to New Zealand, California, Machu Picchu and many European and UK destinations – as well as pursuing her passion for music and theatre.

Marianne’s friends in the Vice Chancellor’s Office tell how, after leaving the University, there were so many friends and colleagues who wanted to stay in touch and hear the many stories that Marianne always had to tell, that the ‘Audience with Marianne’ event was created. Marianne would visit the Gulbenkian over a period of a couple of hours or so, and her various friends from across the University would ‘drop in’ to say hello and enjoy a lively catch up. Her friends tell how ‘there was always so much laughter at these gatherings and Marianne always left us with a smile and something fun to talk about!  When we learnt of Marianne passing away, we found it hard to comprehend how we wouldn’t see her again. However, the conversations quickly turned to ‘do you remember’ and we were all laughing again at the lovely memories she left us with, be it about fun, determination and strength, fashion, tales of travels or simply remembering what an impact Marianne had on us’.

Marianne’s strength and steely determination to live life to the full will be part of her legacy.  Friends will raise a glass to her in celebration of a life lived to the full, and in grateful thanks that she shared so much laughter and friendship with us.

Professor Keith Mander pays a touching tribute to Marianne Du Sautoy

Donations in memory of Marianne, can be made to Cancer Research UK.

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

This week’s (Monday 30 November – Friday 4 December) webinars are as follows:

Monday 30 November 2020 –  ‘How Care first can support you’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link.

Tuesday 1 December 2020 – ‘Coping with Vaccine Anxiety’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Wednesday 2 December 2020 – ‘Coping with Change as Restrictions are adjusted’
Time: 13.00-13.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Thursday 3 December 2020 – ‘Festive Wellbeing’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Friday 4 December 2020 – ‘Care first Management Support Service’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

A new range of online training dates delivered by the Centre for Child Protection (CCP) are available to book now.

CCP is a centre of excellence and innovation in training, research and practice based at Kent’s School for Social Policy, Social Research and Sociology. Its cutting-edge child protection simulations are designed to support all health and social care practitioners worldwide: teachers, social workers, youth workers, probation officers, GPs, lawyers, police officers, health visitors and voluntary organisations.

The child protection simulation (serious game) concept offers a safe medium in which professionals, at all stages of their careers, can explore complex scenarios and reflect upon their practice skills.

All training is delivered online with dates available in January, February and March.

• Gangs, knife crime and county lines: a new training course using a “contextual safeguarding” approach to inform practice. The approach of contextual safeguarding was originally developed by Dr Carlene Firmin at the University of Bedfordshire’s Contextual Safeguarding Network. This technique recognises that young people are influenced by a whole range of environments and people outside of their family
• Maryam and Joe: Behind Closed Doors: CCP’s interactive social-media style simulation is a training tool on the routes to radicalisation and extremism. It has been developed to allow professionals and young people to spot the signs of radicalisation in two different scenarios
• Looking out for Lottie: These resources have recently updated in collaboration with the NSPCC. The session provides a brief introduction to Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) in the UK, along with a suggested reading list for further exploration.

For more details, and to book, visit CCP’s Eventbrite page.

Dr Jennifer Leigh (Senior Lecturer in Higher Education and Academic Practice) warmly invites you to an online event on 3rd December 12.00 – 14.00 to discuss the new book Ableism in Academia: Theorising disabilities and chronic illnesses in higher education.

The focus for the event is on policy and practice.

Speakers include Professor Georgina Randsley de Moura (Kent), Dr Neil Harrison (Oxford), Dr El Spaeth (Glasgow), Dr Nicole Brown (UCL IOE) and Dr Amanda Bates (Kent).

You can book a place via Eventbrite

The book can be downloaded for free and we will share a discount code for all participants who would like a hard copy.

Calling all University staff for an online Christmas Rock Choir Singalong Special!

You’re invited to take part in a special online Rock Choir on Weds 2 December at 13.00, when the group will have its final singing session of the term with a festive flavour.

Open to all staff at the University, the director and alumnus, Jonathan Grosberg, will lead a special session teaching from scratch (and without music) a festive and easy arrangement of ‘The First Noel’ and ‘Silent Night.’

You can find out more in this minute-long introduction on YouTube, and if you’d like to join in, email jonathangrosberg@rockchoir.com and Jonathan will send the link for the day.

From Professor Richard Reece, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education & Student Experience:

As promised, please find below an update on the booking process for asymptomatic testing, following my email on 24 November.

Canterbury

We have now opened a booking window for students only. Students based at Canterbury will receive an email confirming this.

We are initially taking bookings from just students to ensure any students that wish to take a test before the Student Travel Window (3-9 December 2020) can do so.

We are planning to open a booking window for staff early next week and will email you to let you know.

The Asymptomatic Testing Site (ATS) will run from Monday 30 November 2020 until Wednesday 9 December 2020.

Medway

Please note that any students studying at Medway should complete our Medway booking form so that we can arrange booking slots at the NHS Local Testing Site on the Medway campus.

We are planning to open a booking window for staff early next week and will email you to let you know.

What to do if you have symptoms

Please note that the ATS is only for those who are not displaying Covid-19 symptoms. If you do have symptoms, please follow our advice on what to do if you think you have Covid-19 and book a test via the NHS Coronavirus website.

Further information on asymptomatic testing, and what the test involves, is available on our Coronavirus webpages.

Best wishes

Richard

Professor Richard Reece | Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience

Story by Natalia Crisanti, Student Engagement and Communications Officer | Student Support and Wellbeing, Student Services

Have you looked at any of the calendar of scheduled events for UKDHM? This year’s Disability History Month challenges us to consider ‘Access: How far have we to come? How far have we to go?’ If local television channel KMTV’s report is anything to go by, accessibility might still be an afterthought in Kent.

Take a look at more information of Disability History Month.

As a staff body there is certainly still a lot we can still learn to improve the experience of all of our students, whether they have physical disabilities we can see, chronic conditions we couldn’t guess at, or invisible conditions such as mental health concerns or autism, sometimes referred to as neurodiversity.

On 3rd December there will be a free workshop delivered via Teams on Neurodiversity to help everyone understand and accept neurodivergent ways of experiencing the world. Book your place on Eventbrite now, and be part of the community moving towards a more inclusive place to work and study. Let’s #MakeKentAccessible.

If you have any questions please contact me at n.crisanti@kent.ac.uk