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 23 November – Friday 27 November) webinars are as follows:

Monday 23 November 2020 –  ‘How Care first can support you’
Time: 12.30-13.00 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link.

Tuesday 24 November 2020 – ‘Celebrating Festivals and Occasions during the pandemic’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Wednesday 25 November 2020 – ‘Tips to be more productive whilst working from Home’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Thursday 26 November 2020 – ‘Budgeting for Christmas’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Friday 27 November 2020 – ‘Coping with Uncertainty in the months ahead’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

We’re now over half-way through the second national lockdown in England, and it’s been eight months since the government advised that – those of us who can – must work from home.

Many of us aren’t equipped with ergonomic chairs, adjustable desks or even a permanent workspace at home, so we’re having to make do with temporary work stations such as the dining room table or the kitchen counter. All of this is a minefield for body aches and pains due to bad posture and a less-than-ideal work setup.

If you’re having an issue with back pain, it’s best to do something about it rather than letting the problem persist. The Kent Sport Physiotherapy Clinic remains open throughout the national lockdown, and offers online or face-to-face physiotherapy appointments. The experienced physiotherapist, Victoria Annis, has helped multiple clients with back pain issues throughout lockdown, and has availability in November and December.

To book an appointment, email physio@kent.ac.uk, or visit their website for further information.

Please read the FAQs to find out how they’re  keeping their staff and customers safe during the Covid-19 pandemic.

We are fast approaching the end of what has been a most unusual Autumn term at Kent, and across the country as a whole. Staff from all Schools and Divisions across our University have worked tirelessly and with great skill and dedication to provide the best possible experience for our students. Your adaptability, care, commitment and continued enthusiasm during these difficult times are very much appreciated.

Student departures

The Government has now released its plans to bring students safely home for Christmas. This means that many of our students will be leaving our University earlier than they would have in previous years utilising a planned Student Travel Window of 3-9 December 2020.

To help facilitate their departure, all our face-to-face teaching will end by 4 December 2020. Specific end dates will vary depending on the face-to-face activities that are scheduled between the end of the current lockdown period (Dec 2) and the end of face-to-face teaching. Students without scheduled face-to-face teaching on Thursday 3 December or Friday 4 December will be encouraged to arrange their travel for 3-6 December. Those that do have face-to-face teaching on 3-4 December will be encouraged to arrange their travel between 5-9 December. This information will be available in students’ timetables on SDS.

Students have received an email outlining the staggered departure dates and plans on 19 November 2020.

Student FAQs concerning Christmas travel and vacation arrangements have also been updated.

Asymptomatic testing facility

The Department for Education has asked for expressions of interest from universities wishing to participate in the asymptomatic testing programme for students to provide reassurance to them and their parents on the return home for Christmas.

This is a very large project which requires significant planning and resources. We are currently looking to put a 12-booth testing facility in the Sports Hall on the Canterbury campus with Greenwich looking at running a similar facility at Medway on behalf of all the HE/FE partners there.

Universities are being encouraged to begin testing students on 30 November 2020. This is to tie into the planned Student Travel Window. We anticipating meeting this deadline for a pilot group of students with a view to growing the programme in the New Year.

Although no DfE guidance has yet been published for Spring term, we anticipate the testing programme will continue and we will need to increase the scale of the asymptomatic testing facilities to possibly accommodate repeated testing for students on their return to campus and throughout the term.

Spring term plans

Our framework for our plans for teaching and the student experience in the Spring term have now been set and the details are currently in development. We will continue to provide a blended approach to our teaching, which will enable us to pivot should we need to deliver online learning only at the start of the new term or at any point thereafter.

As I mentioned earlier, we have achieved so much together this term. Thanks to feedback from students and excellent work done by colleagues, especially during Review Week, there’s no doubt that we can build on what we have achieved this term and provide an even better student experience in the Spring.

Best wishes

Richard

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

Professor Shujun Li, Professor of Cyber Security at the School of Computing and Director of Kent Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Cyber Security (KirCCS), has contributed to Dr Jessica Barker’s best-selling book: Confident Cyber Security.

Dr Jessica Barker is a renowned cyber security expert in the human nature of cyber security, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Cygenta and a member of KirCCS’s Advisory Board. The book aims to encourage more people to go for a cyber security career. Professor Shujun Li appears in Chapter 14 “The Future of Cyber Security and What it Means for Your Career” to showcase a cyber security career in academia.

Dr Barker said, “Confident Cyber Security helps academics specialising in cyber security with communicating core cyber security concepts to students, with delivering outreach activities and with designing and advocating the development of more interdisciplinary cyber security degree programmes. The book highlights the breadth of the cyber security field, the extent to which cyber security is about technical, human and physical issues and the variety of careers that make up the discipline. Confident Cyber Security would also help academics who are not cyber security specialists, but work in linked fields, understand cyber security and how their discipline relates to it.”

Professor Li said, “It was a great pleasure to have worked with Jessica on the book project. Cyber security is an area where we need more skilled professionals and are currently seeing a great shortage in talent. As an intrinsically interdisciplinary subject, more people can pursue a cyber security career, even those with a non-technical background. For instance, Jessica herself completed a BA in Social and Political Studies at the University of Sheffield, an MA in Research Methodology and a PhD in Civic Design at the University of Liverpool, and she is now one of the top 20 most influential women in cyber security in the UK. I hope the book and my own small story can encourage and inspire more pupils and college students to pursue a cyber security career, and those working in a different area to consider switching into a cyber security career pathway.”

To learn more about cyber security career pathway, you may also be interested in visiting KirCCS’s YouTube channel and watch this Cyber Security Career Tips video.

Here’s some further information about Confident Cyber Security. 

Celebrate the most wonderful time of the year at Gulbenkian!

Gulbenkian’s Christmas Season 2020 is a scrumptiously Christmassy selection box of treats! From a wondrously wintery family show to festive films, Gulbenkian has Christmas all wrapped up this December.

Gulbenkian are reopening on 3rd of December so head to their website to find out what’s on in December!

Here’s a sneak preview of what’s coming up…

The Muppet’s Christmas Carol – Sun 6 December 2020, 15.00

Elf – Tue 8 December 2020, 19.00

It’s a Wonderful Life – Sat 12 December 2020,18.00

How The Grinch Stole Christmas – Tue 15 December 2020, 19.00

A range of bite-sized learning modules designed to help all of us to keep on top of this rapidly changing landscape and adjust to new ways of working.

The ongoing pandemic has forced many organisations to reconsider the way they ask their workforce to engage with each other and with customers. As we start to envisage what the future of work may look like, would this be more flexible and hybrid working patterns or new ways of working, our continued success will depend on our ability to support ourselves and each other in adjusting to the ‘new normal’. The reality of remote working is here to stay in some shape or form, and the ability to adapt to the changing ways of working still present challenges to what we do and how we do it.

We have created a new Future of Work online programme of learning which has been designed to offer support for colleagues and to help adjust to the ‘new normal’ whilst building and maintaining a high-performing team and delivering success in the new way of doing things remotely.

The Future of Work programme contains a number of 5-15 minute online courses, as well as resources, tips, tricks and videos so that ourselves and our teams can be as proficient and effective as possible in working remotely while also preparing for what work may look like post-covid.

All the courses can be found on Staff Training Moodle.

For further personal support, you can find information on the Employee Assistance Programme webpage or contact Care first on 0808 168 2143

If you need any further information, please contact the team at Ldev@kent.ac.uk.

You can also join our “HR-T&OD staff Training” Teams channel and Twitter to keep up to date with our latest news.

Are you interested to find out how you can bring experiential learning into your modules through virtual exchange?

Virtual exchange (VE) or Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) uses technology to allow students to engage in meaningful, cross-cultural experiences as part of their education.  It can broaden access to international learning for every student, regardless of their circumstances, background or ability.  With recent events preventing traditional study abroad, these projects provide the framework for students to develop their cross-cultural attitudes, skills, and communication in addition to improving their digital literacy skills valued by employers.

International Partnerships and the Dean for Internationalisation would like to invite you along to an introductory workshop on Virtual Exchange.  During this 2-hour workshop, we will outline the key elements of VE; share examples of past projects; identify how we can we work with our existing university partners and present research on the impact of VE on student’s learning.  There will be opportunities for discussion and sharing possible ideas on how to adopt VE into your teaching.

Workshop Details

Introduction to Virtual Exchange

Monday 30th November, 10.00 -12.00

Register to join the workshop

Kent has devised a co-curricular virtual exchange initiative, Global Learning Online (GLO) to introduce students to cross-cultural academic learning experiences online to compliment their existing studies.  We are delighted to see GLO, firmly established within our Japanese provision and many students this academic year take up the opportunities on offer. 

Any questions, please contact e.l.marku@kent.ac.uk or deaninternational@kent.ac.uk

This term has seen Kent’s students embracing the various online, virtual exchange opportunities that have been on offer so far this year.

As the Covid-19 pandemic has prevented many traditional in-person study opportunities, many students have had to adapt to studying online with our partner institutions as part of their Year Abroad.  However, over 60 students have also opted to take opportunities provided by our partner universities and organisations as an extra-curricular activity, alongside their existing studies at Kent.

Exciting virtual exchange courses include exploring climate change, identity and communication in the digital world, Japanese common reading experiences and more.

My first impression was that it was a safe space to be very open and discuss all sorts of topics. I found it remarkable how honest everybody was about their own experiences and accepting they were of individual and cultural differences…I look forward to the other weekly sessions, it was a refreshing and eye-opening discussion.

Samantha Archer, English & French Law, Connect Express

All students that engage in these activities earn a certificate and transcript where applicable, awarded Employability Points and have recognition on their Higher Education Achievement Report.

Virtual exchange allows students to engage in meaningful, cross-cultural experiences as part of their education.  It can broaden access to international learning for every student, regardless of their circumstances, background or ability.  These projects provide the framework for students to develop their cross-cultural attitudes, skills, and communication in addition to improving their digital literacy skills valued by employers.

If you are a staff member and would like to find out how you could incorporate virtual exchange into your curriculum, register for our introductory workshop on Monday 30th November.

For more information, please contact internationalpartnerships@kent.ac.uk