Looking for things to do when you are not doing exams or revising next term? Look no further! There are some fantastic Study Plus courses and they are all free of charge.

If you have ever thought of working in TV or becoming a journalist, do not miss the chance to get some hands-on experience. TV Production (KE200)  takes place from 4-7 May. Run in conjunction with KMTV, this course gives you the chance to have a go at operating TV cameras and broadcast equipment as well as pitching your ideas, scriptwriting and presenting. You will make a TV programme which will be broadcast online and on TV. Read what participants have to say about the course.

On 2 June, you can take part in a one-day workshop, Songwriting Skills (KE204). If you are able to play guitar or piano/keyboard and would like to learn how to write songs (you don’t need to sight-read music, but you do need to be able to play well enough to accompany yourself), don’t miss this chance to learn from a professional musician.

In the final week of term, you have an amazing chance to try your hand at being a journalist. Journalism (KE044) runs for five days from 8-12 June and allows you to learn what professional journalists do and how they do it. You will produce news stories to real deadlines for newspapers, radio, TV and online, while being guided by staff at the Centre for Journalism.

All of these courses take place at Medway, but are open to students from any campus. Canterbury students can travel to Medway for free by booking a place on the campus shuttle.

If you want to improve your career prospects in general, take part in a series of Career Toolkit workshops, (KE198), which will help you write a great CV, perform better at job interviews and gain some experience of assessment centre activities. They take place from 5-26 May at the Canterbury campus and are run by staff from the Careers and Employability Service.

You can sign up for all of these courses in SDS workshops.

For more information, see the Study Plus website.

Access to Moodle is restored now. We’re sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused you.

A technical fault with our server management system this weekend affected Moodle as well as other systems. Our specialists worked on Sunday evening and early Monday morning. We were able to fix the problem by 10am on Monday.

If you have any further issues with Moodle, or any other IT services at Kent, please let us know.

Worldfest returns for 2020 in Canterbury and Medway!  Running from the 9-13 March, the popular celebration of cultural diversity features the delectable International Food Fair, the International Showcase (the ultimate cultural talent contest) and Holi, the Hindu colour-throwing festival and celebration of spring.

New to Worldfest this year are the workshops by Music for Change in the Sports Centre and the Voices of (Un)Belonging creative event by the Decolonise UoK group, featuring LowKey. At Medway there are quizzes, workshops, performances and lots of creative fun to get involved in.

The full programme is available online at www.kent.ac.uk/worldfest

To help you prepare for the exam period, we have brought lots of ideas for you together in one place so you can be thinking about incorporating some activities that make you feel good during stressful times.

Are you ready to #TrySomethingNewForFree? We will have a huge variety of inspiration at #EnhanceYourWellbeing2020 – come and discover some fun and practical ways to improve your wellbeing and get some balance in your life.

Drop in activities in Keynes Atrium

Come along to Keynes Atrium on Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 February 12.00-14.00 for information stalls, craft activities, games, dog therapy, free massages, free haircuts and a lot more! Free healthy snacks will be available so come and grab some fuel as you go through Keynes #LoveYourMindLoveYourBody.

Many societies like Mindsoc, UKC Krishna Consciousness Society, BEAT and Coppafeel will be talking about what they do and how you can get involved. You can talk to Kent Sport about the initiatives they run to help people try new activities, or you can get stuck in and start rowing, and then have a taster massage to relax.

There will be a variety of craft and artistic activity that you can sit down and have a go at for as long or as little as you like, as well as games and information on accessing support whenever you need it during your studies.

Find out about various types of staff and student led groups, from neurodiversity, to the Wellbeing Café, which is every Monday from 15.30-16.45 in Turing Hut 8 – a place to have a free hot drink and chat, and get involved in activities linked to nature and wellbeing.

Free workshops by our University chefs

There are some free workshops by our own University chefs taking place throughout February and March. These workshops include breadmaking, mince beef/quorn mince three ways and making decadent deserts.

If you fancy learning some new skills in the kitchen, make sure you book one of the limited places online for cooking workshops.

City centre wellbeing activities

Do you also know that there are lots of opportunities to enhance your wellbeing for free in the city centre?

Take a study break and go down to the Beaney Institute of Art and Knowledge, Canterbury’s city library which is free for all to access and includes both a large selection in the lending library, and 3 floors of art galleries. On Monday 2 March there will be an exclusive mindfulness tour of the Beaney for University of Kent students from 16.00-17.00, limited spaces can be booked online for the Beaney tour.

Waterstones in Rose Lane, Canterbury, is also hosting two wonderful wellbeing events, An evening of storytelling and dance on Thursday 27 February from 18.30-20.30 and Universities’ Mental Health & Wellbeing Evening on Thursday 5 March 18.00-21.00 where students can get 20% off any books. The café will be open, there will be free snacks and non-alcoholic drinks, with live music and taster sessions of guided meditation practice on the top floor.

See the full programme of events. For the latest information and booking links, or to tell us your thoughts and ideas on Wellbeing activity, please follow @UniKentSSW on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Did you know that Kent undergrads moving on to postgrad study are eligible for special scholarships and discounts?

Book now for the Postgraduate Open Event to find out more about Kent’s career-focused Master’s and PhD programmes, £12m scholarship fund and to meet the Dean of the Graduate School for tea and cake.

The Postgraduate Open Day is Saturday 22 February, 10.00-14.00 in Darwin College.

Book your place now

Following the October 2019 ballot of its members on pay and conditions, the University and College Union (UCU) has announced another period of national strike action. At Kent, this is due to begin on 24 February 2020 and will last 14 days, concluding on 17 March 2020. The planned strike days are:

• Week 1: Monday 24 February to Wednesday 26 February (3 days)
• Week 2: Monday 2 March to Thursday 5 March (4 days)
• Week 3: Monday 9 March to Friday 13 March (5 days)
• Week 4: Monday 16 March to Tuesday 17 March (2 days)

We have updated our student website containing information about the industrial action that is taking place this academic year, a list of FAQs and the support available to you. Hopefully this will answer some of your questions and we will be regularly adding more information over the next few weeks.

Please be assured that your education is our utmost priority at this time. We are continuing to do all we can to minimise disruption and the impact of the industrial action on those of you that are affected.

We will continue to keep you informed of further developments via the Student Guide, @unikent on Twitter and email when necessary. You can also speak with the staff in your academic school who will be able to provide information specific to your course.

Please continue to attend all your scheduled teaching during this time.

Volunteering is a great way to gain skills and experience to add to your CV whilst giving back to the community.

Come along to the Volunteering Opportunities Fair 2020 Tuesday 4 February 12.00-15.00 in Keynes Atrium.

This is a chance to meet with the following organisations offering local opportunities to get involved:

-Alzheimers Society
-British Red Cross
-Canterbury and District Early Years project
-Canterbury Homeless Outreach
-Demelza
-East Kent Mencap
-KAB
-Kent Marrow
-Kent Uni Blood Team
-KSSCRC
-League of Friends
-Porchlight
-Rethink Canterbury
-Strode Park Foundation
-Time to Give KCC

Find out more information about the event or learn more about our new volunteer scheme and how you can log your hours.

The Careers and Employability Services (CES) are holding a huge number of events on a range of topics such as:

-Succeeding in applications
-Interview and Assessment Centres Q&A
-Speed Interviewing events
-Recruitment Agencies & Jobs Boards Fair
-LinkedIn Profiles
-How to talk to employers
-Professionalism and Work Etiquette
-The Kent Volunteer Scheme at Medway
-Finding inclusive employers (Disability/LGBTQ+ friendly)
-Talking about your disability to employers
-Competency and strength based interviews
-Race, Sexuality & Disability in Business
-Career Management
-Career Management for mature students and career changers
-The Hidden Job Market
-Tips on finding summer internships and work experience
-How to network
-Developing resilience in the recruitment process
-Meet the employer events
-Volunteering Opportunities Fair

To take advantage of these free events, see the Careers events calendar, or if you are in your final year of an undergraduate programme, you can see the Finalists events calendar and filter by ‘Careers’ to see targeted career events to prepare you for life after University.