Author Archives: Miriam Sandiford

Digital by Default: Post Office Horizon System free event, 21 May

This event brings together ex-sub-postmasters and mistresses who were wrongfully convicted for theft and false accounting, legal and IT experts, and investigative journalists to think through some important issues raised by one of the largest miscarriages of justice.

Join us on Saturday 21 May, 1.30-17.30 at the Gulbenkian Theatre.

The event is centred on the lived experiences of people directly impacted. It provides an opportunity and space to reflect on what happened and what lessons can be gleaned. There will be a mix of stories, presentations and panel discussions, and a Q&A session with the audience.

We are pleased to be joined by Mrs Seema Misra (SPM), Mrs Nichola Arch (SPM), Mr Parmod Kalia (SPM), Mr Patrick Green QC and Ms Kathleen Donnelly (Henderson Chambers), Professor Lydia Hayes (Head of Kent Law School), Professor Richard Moorhead (University of Exeter), Professor Bernard Richmond QC (Kent Law School), Ms Flora Page (UCL), Professor Harold Thimbleby (Swansea University), Dr Ida Petretta (Kent Law School), Mr Ian Reeves (Head of the Centre of Journalism), Mr Karl Flinders (Computer Weekly), Ms Katie Glass (Telegraph), and Mr David Chaplin and Ms Helen Lacey to discuss N Wallis, The Great Post Office Scandal (Bath Publishing 2021).

The event is generously supported by Kent Law School, the Division for the Study of Law, Society & Social Justice (LSSJ), and the FutureHuman fund.

Please note that the event will be recorded.

The event is free but ticketed. Register your place now.

Events roundup: 9-15 May

Welcome to the Summer Term. We wish you the best of luck with your exams – you’ve got this!

All week: Kent Giving Week

Take a break from revision and join Kent’s first ever fundraising week. Events include a 5k run/walk, Rock Choir Concert, stress buster massages and more!

Monday: 5K Your Way

Whether you’re based at Canterbury or Medway, you can get involved in the Kent Giving Week 5K Your Way. You can walk, run or dance your way around the route and help raise money for our new Parkinson’s Centre for Integrated Therapy.

Tuesday: Exam support and find out about proposed changes to the academic year at Kent

Get into exam mode with this bitesize online session to learn exam techniques with the Student Learning Advisory Service, 12.00-12.15. Look out for more of these sessions throughout the exam season.

Pick up some free fruit and snacks from Templeman Library Welcome Hall 13.00-15.00, plus some great advice on library resources to help with your revision.

Join Professor Richard Reece, DVC Education and Student Experience at a student webinar, 16.00-17.00, to find out more about the proposed changes to the academic year at Kent.

Wednesday: House Plant Hospital and mindfulness sessions

House plants looking a little sad? Bring them along for House Plant Hospital so the team can diagnose them and give you some advice on how to restore them to their former glory.

If you need a breather from exams, try out this Exam Calm online mindful breathing session, 13.00-13.30. The short, guided meditation will be followed by a discussion about how mindfulness can help us cope better during the exam season.

Or if you prefer to be outside, you can join the outdoor mindfulness session, 17.00-18.00 for a guided meditation at the Kent Community Oasis Garden.

Saturday: Cambridge Day Trip and Bee Walk

Join the Chaplaincy Team for a Cambridge Day Trip! Meet new people and spend time exploring ancient lanes, colleges and university buildings. This trip costs £18 with a coach leaving Canterbury campus at 8.30 on Saturday.

Get out in nature and learn how to identify and record different Bumble Bee species at this Bee Talk and Walk, starting at the Kent Community Oasis Garden, 10.00-12.00.

Survey: Help shape Kent’s anti-racism strategy
Complete the Race Equality Charter Student Survey by 17 June for the chance to win one of three £50 gift vouchers.

Browse all student events.

Enhancing your mental health during the Summer Term

The start of the Summer Term coincides with Mental Health Awareness Week. We appreciate the Summer Term can be stressful as you manage your exams and other deadlines and commitments.

Here are some ideas for boosting your mental health this term:

Connect with others – reach out to friends and family. Plan when you can next meet up, so you have something to look forward to. You can also check out the Student Support and Wellbeing events calendar for ways to meet new people such as the Walking Buddy and Just Coffee initiatives.
Get out in nature – spending time in nature can have huge benefits for our mental health. If you’re at Medway, the Rochester Lawn has benches, a covered area and a trail gym for you to explore. Based at Canterbury? Check out the new Canterbury Wellbeing Map and discover more places to relax and unwind. We’re super lucky to have the Kent Community Oasis Garden at our Canterbury campus (located at the end of Park Wood). Join students, staff and members of the community on Wednesdays and Fridays 10.00-14.00 for a relaxed gardening session.
Exercise regularly– exercise is a great way to let go of frustrations and improve your mood as well as increase your fitness. Kent Sport’s ALL Active programme is back this term with plenty of non-competitive, turn-up-and-play sessions. No experience or equipment needed. You could also join a community bike ride with other Kent students.
Get enough sleep – sleep is vital to allow both your body and mind to recharge. If you struggle with your sleep, check out this free online Togetherall course: How to Improve Your Sleep.
Eat well and stay hydrated – we all know that eating well and drinking plenty of water is good for us, but we often forget just much it can affect our mood. Check out the Blurt foundation’s blogpost about foods that boost mood and energy.

Mental Health Team at Student Support and Wellbeing

The Mental Health Team consists of Mental Health Advisers, Counsellors and Student Mentors. Mental Health Advisers are specialist practitioners who can offer mental health advice and support. They can provide short term focused interventions to promote wellbeing and support students to develop coping strategies and help put in place an ILP or ‘inclusive learning plan’ if required. We also have a free confidential Counselling service for all Kent students, offering a safe space to those experiencing problems such as anxiety, depressed feelings, and emotional difficulties that may or may not be connected to student life.

Togetherall – 24/7 support

Togetherall offers 24/7 online mental health support by peers, with free courses, message boards, self-assessments and articles on many topics. It’s overseen by qualified therapists and free for Kent students.

Mental Health Partner organisation: Spectrum Life – out of office hours support

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or need emergency in the moment crisis support outside of Student Support and Wellbeing working hours, our external partners Spectrum Life can offer you online, text and telephone support from qualified counsellors and mental health professionals.

Student Support and Wellbeing Services Survey

Have you used Student Support and Wellbeing Services at Kent this academic year? If you’d like to give your feedback and be in with a chance of winning £50, complete this online survey.

Learn more about mental health support at Kent.

Paid role: Curriculum Auditors for Sustainability Team

Our Sustainability Team are seeking student auditors to assess the extent of sustainability knowledge and skills in our undergraduate curriculum. The project will take place from the end of May through to the summer. Full training will be provided.

What is the pay?

The pay for this role is £10.29/hour.

What are the hours?

3 hours training (paid) – Wednesday 25 May 14.00-17.00. Attendance and participation in the full 3 hours of training is mandatory. We will be unable to provide catch-up sessions or recordings of the training.
Training will take place on Zoom
There will then be a minimum of 6 hours per student of additional work to be completed remotely at a time to suit you. Depending on the number of students who attend the training there may be up to 20 additional hours available.

What will the role involve?

Students will be mapping the Sustainable Develop Goals (SDGs) and some other key sustainability elements against modules from course and modules at the University of Kent
We will be using the online course and modules list that gives an overview of each Module
Students will read the overview of the module, and then fill in our online form with your scores mapping them to the SDGs and ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) framework
Once students have completed the mapping, we will collate the answers to get a picture of the University’s inclusion of the SDGs.

Application closing date is 8 May 2022.

Find out more and apply.

Destination Success Bootcamp – free 3 day programme

Our Careers and Employability Service are running an exciting 3-day programme – ‘Destination Success Bootcamp’. This is a 3-day intensive training programme with the purpose of helping you map out your journey to success and build confidence in your abilities. This programme is suitable to those across all years, including recent graduates.

This programme will be delivered face to face on the Canterbury Campus (Tuesday 24 May – Thursday 26 May). Each day will start at 10.00 allowing time for those traveling from Medway. You need to attend every day in order to gain a plan on the programme.

The programme will focus on:

Understanding you – This module aids self-reflection so you can better understand how you work, this will include completing a personality profile, exploring your personal values, your strengths and development areas, imposter syndrome and the power of positivity, finishing with looking at what you want to get out of life.

Navigating you – This module with focus on how to nurture and build good relationships, focusing on team dynamics, exploring learning styles and rules of teamwork, having challenging conversations and how to communicate in the workplace.

Universal Life Hacks – This final module will give you a toolbox of ideas to hit the ground running, including decision making, planning, prioritising and delegating, mapping your skills and looking at whether you would employ yourself.

See the website for more information, including the joining instructions and to how to book your place.

If you have any queries, please email studyplus@kent.ac.uk

Summer Term Ecotherapy sessions

Launching this term, join the Circle of Trees Group for seasonal sessions that aim to support good health and wellbeing by connecting you with nature. These sessions are run by East Kent Mind as part of the Kent Community Oasis Garden Partnership.

Benefits of Ecotherapy

Ecotherapy improves mental wellbeing and helps people to become more physically active. It gives people the skills to get back into work, training and education, and it helps people who are lonely or socially isolated to broaden their networks. These are all important factors that can prevent people developing a mental health problem to start with.

Summer Term Sessions

Session 1 – Thursday 12 May – 12.00-14.00 – Finding comfort in Nature at times of pressure
Session 2 – Thursday 19 May – 12.00-14.00 – Overcoming obstacles
Session 3 – Thursday 26 May – 12.00-14.00 – Honouring strengths and feelings
Session 4 – Monday 30 May – 14.00-16.00 – Finding power from within
Session 5 – Thursday 9 June 12.00-14.00 – ‘Old me, New me’
Session 6 – Monday 13 June – 12.00-14.00 – Shining our light

You are encouraged to sign up to all 6 to get the full benefits of the course but please do get in touch with us if you can only attend a few.

What does a session look like?

Each session will include a sensory awareness practice, a team-building nature based ice-breaker (30 mins) and a main task encapsulating the month’s energy (1 hour). All things we create will involve simple materials found in nature. The Group concludes with sharing and tea and biscuits!

How to book

You can book onto the sessions and ask any questions you may have by emailing kentcog@kent.ac.uk where the KentCOG Coordinator Debi will be able to sign you up and answer any queries. You can also visit the Ecotherapy KentCOG website to learn more.

Email kentcog@kent.ac.uk to book your place

Residential Life Assistant (plus accommodation discount)

Do you want to make an amazing student experience for students on-campus at Kent? Join the Residential Life Programme, gain invaluable work experience and get a huge discount on your on-campus accommodation for the 2022/23 academic year! Our Residential Life Assistants (RLAs) are at the heart of our College Communities.

You will build relationships both on and off campus, to develop the sense of belonging and community, whilst working together to create exciting events for your peers. This is an great opportunity to get flexible work experience alongside your studies, whilst actively contributing to a fantastic student experience at Kent.

Please read the Job Description, this provides a more in-depth description of the position available and requirements for applicants. To apply for the position, please provide us with a written statement, no longer than 500 words, expressing why you’d like to be considered for an RLA post and how your experience makes you the best candidate for the role. If you are successful, you will be invited to a short interview with the College and Community Life Team.

Please note, you will need to commit 12 hours a week and be in attendance at a training week on campus, to be arranged after the successful candidates have been selected.

Please send your application to hccl@kent.ac.uk by Friday 6 May 2022.

We look forward to receiving your application, and hearing about how you would like to make living on campus a fun and memorable time for all!

Nominations open: Kent Union VP Postgrad full-time officer

Kent Union have elected four of the full-time officers for the upcoming academic year and are looking for the fifth member of the team. They are running a by-election and asking students to vote for your representation once again.The Postgraduate Experience role is responsible for providing the postgraduate perspective on issues which impact their student experience. This role will be the lead officer on issues that may include postgraduate funding, training and support; academic issues such as supervision and GTA (Graduate Teaching Assistants) concerns; employment issues; welfare concerns such as finance and housing; and community development including events and activities out of term time alongside the Postgraduate Network.Election dates are as follows:

25 April 12.00: Nominations open
3 May 12.00: Nominations close
12 May 7.00: Voting opens
12 May 22.00: Voting closes
13 May: Winner announcement

A full job description can be found in the resources section on the Kent Union elections webpage. If you, or someone you know, is interested in running for the role, you can recommend a friend (or yourself, we won’t judge!)Important dates for the successful candidate:

Wednesday 18 May: Officer team induction day on Canterbury campus
Sunday 26 June – Saturday 2nd July: Residential training in Faversham, Kent.

If you have any questions please email elections@kent.ac.uk and a member of the elections team will get back to you as soon as possible.Good luck!

Paid Summer Internship: Exploring effects of e-scooter use

What is the internship about?

The project will:

Explore the Physiological effects of E-scooter use
Use equipment in the Sport and Exercise Science Laboratory (e.g. HR, Gas exchange)
Improve understanding of motivations and attitudes to E-scooter use (E.g. Physical activity engagement, Transport habits)
Seek to provide recommendations around E-scooter use Eligibility*

How long is the internship for?

The internship is available for 5 weeks from 1 June (35 hours a week for 5 weeks).

What is the eligibility criteria?

The Summer Vacation Early Career Research Competition has been designed to address the lack of diversity in research. The aim is to encourage Black undergraduates in all disciplines to consider potential postgraduate study.

The internship is open to all Kent students and we particularly encourage applications from first and second year undergraduates who identify as Black, Asian or minority ethnicity, or come from an underrepresented group (ie. disabled, mature, lower socio-economic, care leaver, first in family to attend higher education).

Find out more and apply by 27 April 2022.

Kent Star: Sustainability Superstar Bella

This month, we’re celebrating Sustainability Superstar Isabella who has been working with the Sustainability Team on a wide range of projects this year. Hear from Bella about the Climate Café project, the Hedgehog Friendly campus initiative, the Kent Community Oasis Garden and much more:

“My name is Isabella Sabin-Dawson, and I’m currently in the 3rd year of my Environmental Social Science undergraduate degree. I am interested in ‘eco-anxiety’, a new concept that describes the fears that people experience in response to dangerous changes in the climate system, and also how spending time in nature can have a positive impact on our wellbeing. I can often be found at the beach walking with my dog, practising mindfulness, or crocheting amigurumi characters in a cosy corner.”

What are you doing to improve Sustainability at Kent?

“This year, for my year in professional practice, I have taken on the role of ‘Sustainability Projects Officer’ at Kent as I was lucky enough to get a work placement here with the Sustainability Team. Throughout this academic year I have planned events during Climate Action Week, helped the University achieve gold Hedgehog Friendly Campus status, written and filmed educational videos for the Sustainability website, and developed a new sustainability training module for staff to undertake in the new academic year.

In my second year at Kent, I began working with the School of Anthropology and Conservation Sustainability Working Group (SWG). I am now the SWG Wellbeing Subgroup Lead and we were recently awarded a runner-up position in the Sustainability Student Prize for our Climate Café project. A Climate Café is a space where our fears (and other thoughts and feelings) about the climate crisis can be safely expressed without judgement or advice. Expressing these thoughts and feelings can help to relieve eco-anxiety and help us to feel less alone in the changing world that we live in. There is always cake too, which is a bonus! We will be running Climate Cafés at the Kent Community Oasis Garden (KentCOG), so keep an eye on their Instagram if you are interested in coming along.

I have been volunteering this year with KentCOG, spending time with other students, staff and members of the public to grow fruit, vegetables, herbs and much more! Volunteering at the garden is very rewarding as you can see your hard work turn into something beautiful, and it has also been a great opportunity for me to make new friends and learn from others that have much more gardening experience than I do!”

What advice would you give to other students?

“If someone asked me for advice, I would say get involved! There are so many groups and societies that are working on loads of exciting projects. I’ve built dams in Blean Woods and planted trees on campus with UKC Conservation; made banners, attended climate marches and discussed climate politics with ECS society; and built campfires and experienced mindful walking with Community College Life.

Other environmental groups you could try out are BeetBox, EcoGeog, VegSoc, the Kent Union Sustainability Network, and the SAC SWG. I was hesitant to join in when I first started University, but getting involved with groups like this means you make friends with people that have similar passions and help you make a difference within your community.”

What are your plans for next year?

“Next year I will be back in seminar rooms and lecture theatres after finishing my placement in May! I am extremely excited to travel over the summer but I am also looking forward to starting my new modules in September. I like to keep busy and spend as much time in nature as possible, so I will make sure I can continue volunteering at KentCOG and working with the SAC SWG whilst studying. I intend to make it a fantastic final year!”

Learn more about the Kent Stars campaign.