Author Archives: Miriam Sandiford

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Pre-retirement and mid-career workshops

Planned Future are returning this academic year to facilitate further pre-retirement and mid-career sessions for all staff who want to plan ahead.

Pre-retirement workshops

The suggestion for the pre-retirement session is for staff who are aged 50+, but all staff are welcome.

We have three pre-retirement sessions available. One full day workshop and two bite size sessions.

The objectives of the full day workshop are:

  • How to approach retirement and the change in lifestyle that it will bring
  • Have a better knowledge of managing the financial side of retirement
  • Have had the opportunity to network with colleagues who are also looking ahead

We have one full day session on Tuesday 19 May 2020.

The bite size sessions only cover the financial side.

The bite size sessions are on Monday 20 January 2020, at the Medway campus, and Tuesday 7 July, at Canterbury. As always, all staff are welcome to attend at either site.

Mid-career workshops

We have one bookable mid-career session on Tuesday 19 May.

The objectives of the mid-career session are:

  • Learn how to manage your finances
  • Understand how to protect your family financially
  • Consider the options for saving and investment
  • Learn how to top-up your pension
  • Identify the personal and financial actions which will make the most of your finances
  • Start the process of planning towards a successful retirement.

Please book your place for any of the workshops, through Staff Connect.

Staff member talking to colleagues/students

Intelligibility support for international staff workshop

Colleagues are invited to attend the Learning and Teaching Network session titled ‘Intelligibility support for international staff’ on Wednesday 30 October, 13.15-14.30 in Cornwallis North West Seminar Room 6.

Presented by Rebecca Coleman, this workshop looks at intelligibility support for international staff and support staff at the University of Kent. 

We aim to highlight the importance of these staff members being clearly understood and present common issues that they may face. There will be the opportunity to discuss intelligibly issues that you have encountered and individually and in groups look at ways of improving them.

Further support offered by the Centre of English and World Languages (CEWL) in this domain will be mentioned at the end of the session.

Complete the online booking form to confirm your attendance.

William Rowlandson

Cultures of Sustainability module launched

New Modern Languages module SCL505 ‘Cultures of Sustainability’ has been inaugurated with an extra-curricular discussion about permaculture and the planting of an apple tree.

To mark the new module, permaculture expert Jo Barker held an informal discussion in the Kent Community Oasis Garden about the principles of permaculture, and the planting of a Red Falstaff heritage apple tree.

This was followed by a foraging walk, identifying the variety of hedgerow plants and ‘weeds’ that are edible and nutritious.

School Sustainability Champion and Module Convenor, William Rowlandson, who organised the session, commented: ‘It is important that we consider the scope of teaching beyond the confines of the seminar room and lecture theatre. Whilst this was an optional session and therefore not attended by all the group, it was a successful event, introducing the notion of the campus as a Living Lab and exploring the principles of permaculture and sustainability from the perspective of the Humanities. We hope to hold more similar events later in the semester and in subsequent years.’

Have a go at Futsal

This term Futsal open sessions run weekly on a Tuesday evening from 17.00-19.00 in the Sports Centre. Staff or students teams and individuals can drop in at any point during the sessions.

Futsal is free for Kent Sport Premium Plus and Plus members; and costs student Premium and Pay to Play members £4.50 per session. All genders welcome. 

What is Futsal?

Futsal is a great opportunity to try a different version of football, a game which so many know and love at Kent. Futsal is played indoors, with a smaller heavier ball; it is generally a quicker paced game which is more reliant on passing skills. Most popular in mainland Europe, Futsal falls in line perfectly with the University of Kent’s European identity.

Email sportsdevelopment@kent.ac.uk for more information.

Not a member yet? We have new membership options to suit your fitness journey. For Kent Sport news, events and special offers, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @UniKentSports.

Forest trees

DICE talk: Progress with global tree conservation, 31 Oct

The Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) monthly talk for October will be taken by Dr Sara Oldfield OBE, a botanist and world-renowned tree experience and member of the DICE Advisory Board.

Dr Oldfield’s talk will be about progress with global tree conservation. The talk takes place Thursday 31 October 2019, 18.00-19.00 in Grimond Lecture Theatre 2 and is open to all.

Learn more about DICE.

Professor Amina Memon

Annual psychology lecture to focus on police witness interview technique

Professor Amina Memon will give the University of Kent’s School of Psychology Annual Lecture 2019.

itled ‘Interviewing witnesses of crime: State of the science and future directions’, her lecture will take place on 31 October in Sibson Lecture Theatre 1 at 6.15pm. It is free and open to all.

Professor Amina Memon is director of the interdisciplinary Research Centre for the Study of Emotion and Law at Royal Holloway. She conducts robust and ecologically valid research on the use of cognitive techniques in police investigations. Her work has important implications for how children, vulnerable adults and seniors are interviewed and how these interviews are undertaken and processed by police officers, judges and other professionals within the judiciary system.

She has served as an expert witness in civil and criminal cases where she has been consulted on her expert knowledge on child witnesses, memory, eyewitness identification and historic abuse in the UK and USA.

For her lecture she will review the impact of the cognitive interview (CI), an ethical and effective model of interviewing that draws on the science of memory and communication. The appeal of the CI lies in its flexibility to be adapted for use in different contexts. Within the policing and criminal justice context, it’s been invaluable in inspiring research with different populations to examine how cognitive deficits and other challenges may compromise witness testimony. When used appropriately the CI results in a questioning style that minimises bias that can come from interviewers or misleading information.

Professor Memon will also consider the future applications of the tool including its potential for gathering information about human rights abuses and the benefits for interviewers as well as interviewees.

Kent’s Dr Emma Alleyne, Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychology, will provide the welcome and introductions.

Bed in dark room with small side lamp on

Struggling with your attendance?

There are lots of reasons why you might be struggling with your attendance at university.

Check of this handy online resource to help figure out what the issue is, and the best way to move forward so you can improve your attendance and your overall experience at university.

The resource has been compiled by the Student Support team who are there to ensure your time at university is the most positive experience it can be.

 

student networks images of each network chair

Kent Union student Networks- what are they?

Have you heard about Kent Union’s new Networks yet? Networks are spaces where students who share an interest or identity can discuss issues relating to their group and collectively work on events/campaigns.

There are 12 Networks in total, and each Network has an elected chair. The Network chairs have three key aims for the year, and will be leading and coordinating the activities and work of their Network. You can find out more about the Networks, the chairs, and their aims on the Networks portal.

Over the next couple of weeks the networks will be hosting Network Nights, which are a great opportunity to get involved and meet new people!

Visit the Kent Union Facebook events for more information: