Every year we challenge our students to create a video, which sums up what studying at Kent means to them. This year, we’d like you to use the Kent poem, created by students, staff and alumni for our 50th anniversary, as your inspiration.

The basics:

• £1,000 for first place, £500 for second place
• The video must be inspired by the Kent poem created for our 50th anniversary
• The video can focus on any aspect of student life at Kent and should promote studying at Kent
• You may submit an entry as an individual or as part of a team
• Maximum duration of 120 seconds
• Closing date is midnight on Sunday 12 June 2016
• Winners of the competition will be expected to actively engage as representatives for the University, and feature in University publications, website and press releases.

Find out more and enter.

Staff, students, alumni, lawyers and members of our local community are invited to sign-up for a 10km walk to raise funds for the Kent Law Clinic.

The Kent Law Clinic provides free legal advice and representation for local people who can’t afford it.

This year’s Legal Walk will take place in Canterbury on Saturday 11 June 2016. You can register to take part or volunteer with us by visiting the legal walk webpage.

The walk will begin at the new law building heading down into the city centre, passing iconic sites and finishing back at the University campus.

This is one of a series of legal walks taking place across the country, which are attracting the support and participation of senior judges and lawyers.

Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony, one of our lead walkers said ‘These walks now play a critical part in providing funding for legal advice and assistance. They are good fun so please take part.’

For more information visit the legal walk webpages, or contact Felicity Clifford, Campaigns Officer: F.Clifford@kent.ac.uk.

Did you know that each donation can help save and improve the lives of up to 3 patients? Hospitals and patients rely on more than 7,000 people attending a donation session every day across England and North Wales.

Come and register to become a blood donor and know your blood group on Thursday 14 April, 11.00– 16.00, in Pilkington Atrium.

The Learning and Teaching Network in collaboration with the RLF Consultant Fellow Susan Barker, offered a half day workshop: Writing with impact on 23 March 2016.

Susan is a novelist (see publications) with two years’ experience as a Royal Literary Fund fellow at Leeds Trinity University, where she mentored hundreds of students and staff in academic and non-academic writing.

Susan provided an afternoon writing workshop for staff engaged in non-academic writing. The workshop covered many aspects of non-academic writing, from emails to reports, and focussed on techniques for stylish and effective writing. The workshop was extremely successful and well-attended.  Participants benefitted greatly from a structured approach on improving writing whilst focussing on clarity, simplicity and conciseness.

Participants enjoyed the two 90-minutes sessions of the workshop, stating that the workshop was very well-prepared with many interesting, student-centred and interactive activities. Lots of thought, effort and energy went into the planning and delivery of the workshop. Many participants expressed their enjoyment and praise for the workshop by giving unprompted and unsolicited feedback.

In view of the great success of this workshop, we are offering another ‘Writing with impact’ workshop on Thursday 5 May, from 9:30 until 12:30, in the UELT Seminar room.

Places are limited for this free event. Book via cpdbookings@kent.ac.uk.

Dr Rosie Wyles, Lecturer in Classical History and Literature in the Department of Classical and Archaeological Studies, will feature on the BBC Radio 4 programme Natalie Haynes Stands up for the Classics, tonight at 16.00.

In the first episode of the second series of this popular broadcast the acclaimed comedian and classicist Haynes gives the case for the brilliance of Aristophanes, the ancient comic playwright.

Introducing Dr Wyles, Haynes quipped ‘Rosie Wyles, you quite literally, and I hardly ever get to say this accurately, wrote the book on costume in Greeks plays!’

Dr Wyles offered insight into the cost and significance of costumes in ancient comedy. She also discussed the differences in funding and participation in the 5th-century Athenian drama festivals. Astonishingly the festival could cost the city and its citizens as much as a tenth of the amount spent on its navy for a year. This contribution was informed by her research. She drew on her existing monograph Costume in Greek Tragedy (Bloomsbury 2011). She also showcased some of her new research, due to be published next year, on the role of costume and transformation in Wasps, one of Aristophanes’ most political comedies.

Dr Wyles said ‘I was delighted to be asked to be part of this series. I admire Natalie Haynes’ work as a comedian, writer, and leading advocate of the Classics, immensely. The broadcast chimes in well with my own commitment to highlighting the relevance of Classics in the 21st-century. It was great to work with a producer, Mary Ward-Lowery, who was so enthusiastic about Classics’.

The programme is accessible on on the BBC Radio 4 website for the next 23 days.

On Wednesday 30 March, students from 18 schools involved in the Academic Peer Mentoring (APM) scheme attended an awards ceremony and lunch hosted by the Student Learning Advisory Service (SLAS).

The awards were presented to the mentors by Dr Louise Naylor, Director of UELT.

Mentors from the KBS, CEWL, Pol IR and SECL made presentations and showcased the impact this additional support has had on student achievement.

The event was recorded graphically by a small team of mentors who have received graphic recording training from Banter – a Medway based graphic recording company.

‘Being a mentor has been fun and I have learnt skills which have helped me to prioritise my workload and communicate effectively with lots of different people’. (Fatin Binti-Azhar: KBS stage 2)

The APM scheme now has 350 mentors and it has proved to be an excellent way of promoting student-centred learning.

This initiative depends on student volunteers and is very much a student-led response – both undergraduates and postgraduates offer encouragement and academic advice to other students in the year below thus helping them to improve their performance. As such, it has become an important intervention in the University’s OFFA project.

Mentors benefit greatly from the scheme as they deepen their understanding of the course content as well as enhance their employability skills. Mentoring counts towards the KSCV and employability points scheme. This year it will also be a verifiable activity itemised on students’ HEAR (Higher Education Achievement Record) as SLAS has also delivered a new optional Kent Extra module for mentors.

‘The module made me a lot more confident about my own study skills which I have been able to pass on to my mentees’. (Charlotte Harding: MFA stage 3)

If you would like to find out more about mentoring at Kent please email slasapm@kent.ac.uk.

This year’s Xercise Factor was one of the closest competitions in the promotions four year history.

All eight of the participants selected from over 30 applications completed the process and made it through until the final week.

After careful judgement of all contestants final blogs and a short testimony from each of the Fitness Team Mentors, Khawla Al Hassan was selected as this year’s winner.

All of this year’s participants received votes and Elaine Gilman pushed Khawla close finishing in second place but it was Khawla’s efforts to change her whole outlook on Health and Fitness that won her many fans amongst the Fitness Team and her Xercise Factor peers.

Liz Coult (Khawla’s Mentor throughout the Xercise Factor) had this to say ‘when Khawla first came to me she had a poor diet, low self-esteem, and lacked any form of exercise, however over the course of the Xercise Factor there has been a dramatic transformation in her fitness, her dedication to a heathier and balanced diet and her general commitment to her new healthier lifestyle. I have seen an amazing transition and a more confident Khawla has emerged from her Xercise Factor experience’.

For more information visit Kent Sport and to keep up to date with news and events follow UniKentSports on social media.

UKM Student Nat shares her top tips for exam success.

Be realistic about what you can achieve

One of the big stresses about exam season can be overthinking how much you’ve got to do, and then putting it off until the last-minute, and then stressing again about how much you’ve got to do!

Get out of this vicious circle by planning ahead. We’ve still got around a month to go until exams, so make sure you start planning what you need to do by when NOW. Be realistic about how much stuff you’re going to do each day over the holidays until the temptation to binge on Netflix becomes too strong. Make a plan day-by-day and stick to it. You’ll feel so much better for it, and having everything you need to do written down in front of you is sure to clear your head.

Tidy room tidy mind

One of the key things at the top of my revision to-do list isn’t even revision related. Before I start any revision – and indeed before I start any essay work for those of you still working towards those end of term deadlines – I tidy my house. I make sure that my room is a nice place to sit for hours on end, and I make sure all my dishes are cleaned so a) I’m not tempted to procrastinate by doing them later, and b) I’m not adding to my housemates’ stress by leaving the communal areas in a state.

Get a cracking revision playlist sorted

Another of my key procrastination before revision go-tos is to make a revision playlist on Spotify. Thankfully for you guys, I’ve already done this for you, so you’ve got no excuse to procrastinate by making your own. After all, who can improve upon perfection?!

Check out my revision Spotify playlist.

Organise your notes

This tip kind of ties into the tidying your room tip, but seriously, the amount of stress that will clear just by organising that pile of crumpled handouts in the corner of your room into something that you can easily pick and choose bits from is amazing. Getting organised will also help you to prioritise what you need to go over first, and you might also be reminded of things you’d completely forgotten about, which you need to go back over.

Make time to socialise

I think the biggest revision tip I can give you is that if you socialise and make time to see your friends, you’ll feel so much better. Now, I don’t mean have study dates (although this can work too), I mean get out of the house, go for a run with a mate, or have a barbecue now the weather has got a bit nicer, and relax. Yes I know your head will be swimming with all that stuff you’ve been reading all day, but just remember that your friends are in the same boat, and you can help each other through this. Why not get together and all cook a meal? Or you could each cook part of something and take it round to one of your houses. Here’s an idea for a great quick meal to make during exam time, which takes very little time, but is full of the nutrition you need to keep your brain going.

Brain food recipe – Spicy Chicken and Veg Pasta (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts, cubed
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 4 tomatoes, diced
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 vegetable oxo cube
• 2 tsp of dried oregano
• 2 tsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 red chillis, sliced with seeds removed
• 2 tsp of smoked paprika
• 2 tsp of ground cumin
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 orange bell pepper, diced
• 1 leek, sliced
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• Salt and pepper for seasoning
• 150ml of red wine (optional)
• Pasta shapes of your choice

Method:

1. Boil the pasta for 10-15 minutes until just cooked (al dente).
2. Put the oil in a large frying pan and wait for it to heat.
3. Add the onion, leek and garlic, and cook on a low heat until soft.
4. Add the chicken and cook until lightly browned.
5. Add the paprika and cumin, and stir to coat the chicken and vegetables.
6. Add the fresh tomatoes and peppers.
7. Add the chopped tomatoes and the red wine, as well as the oxo stock cube. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer.
8. Add the sliced red chilli and the fresh parsley, and continue to simmer until the liquid has reduced and the spices have infused.
9. Drain the pasta and mix into the chicken and vegetable sauce.

Serving suggestion: Top with grated cheese (cheddar or parmesan are my favourites for this) and serve with garlic bread.

For all the University’s revision support see the exams webpage in the Student Guide.

Please note that the information for managers on the Management Referral process has been updated on the Occupational Health website. Read updated form and guidance notes.