Category Archives: Student Guide

Top tips for Fresher’s week

Fresher’s week can be quite a daunting time for some students but it guarantees to be the best week to the start of your academic life!

Top tips:

  • Introduce yourself to your flatmates, they will become your first friends who you will spend Fresher’s Week with and – after all you will be living with them for a year so why not get to know them early?
  • Keep a diary there are many events on campus in different buildings and venues, some may also clash so organise your social calendar for the week ahead.
  • Check your timetable and attend welcome talks from your school, this will be the first introduction to the course and a chance for you to meet course mates.
  • Check out events on Facebook prior to arriving. Venue hold a few fancy dress events, typically a school disco so grab your school ties and check out the Fresher’s event page.
  • Add Campus Security’s number to your phone and familiarise yourself with our top tips to stay safe. As most parents say ‘it’s better to be safe than sorry’.
  • Download the SafeZone app.
  • Watch the Student Guide videos on:
    – Support, health and wellbeing services at Kent
    – Studying at Kent
    – How to use the local transport
    – Dealing with money at University (finance)
  • Attend the Fresher’s Fair it is a chance to see what Kent has to offer, join societies, browse volunteering opportunities and there always tends to be a Domino’s hut so if anything go for the free pizza and you never know you may be tempted to approach the stalls.
  • Grab a map of campus or check out the Medway and Canterbury maps online to ensure you don’t get lost. Medway have their own student map too.
  • Join the Official University of Kent Fresher’s 2018 group to keep in contact with your cohort and up-to-date on events.
  • Visit town and get to know your surroundings there’s a lot on offer in both Canterbury and Medway for students.
  • Register at the doctors. Fresher’s flu is no myth so make sure you’re able to get doctors appointments when it kicks in. Register here for Canterbury and Medway and check with your GP that you’ve had your MMR vaccine before going to university this September. #StopTheSpread
  • Download local taxi numbers when returning from late nights out.

By recent Kent graduate Sophia Cheraitia.

Palm Deaf Community Services

British Sign Language Courses

The Centre for English and World Languages is delighted to be offering 20-week courses in British Sign Language starting in October 2018.

The course is run by Palm Deaf BSL Training and will allow participants to achieve a Level 1 Award which is accredited by Signature (the awarding body for BSL qualifications).

Due to popular demand, we are now running two groups:

  • 13:00-16:00
  • 17:00-20:00

For more information please visit the CEWL website.

Alternatively, if you have any questions, please email cewl@kent.ac.uk

Griff Rhys Jones

A Distinguished Visitor Lecture: Griff Rhys Jones

The Canterbury Society and the University of Kent are delighted to invite you to attend this Distinguished Visitor Lecture with special guest speaker, Griff Rhys Jones – writer, actor, comedian, television presenter and the President of Civic Voice, the national body for civic societies such as the Canterbury Society.

The lecture will take place on Monday 3 September from 18.30-19.30 in the Templeman Lecture Theatre and is entitled ‘The Future For Our Towns and Cities’.

Griff Rhys-Jones is well known for his concern about the quality of our towns and cities, particularly historic cities such as Canterbury. In this talk he will share his concerns about the way the planning system has handed control of the way our cities are being developed to the construction industry and what this means for the future of our towns and cities.

No booking is required. Seating is on a first come, first served basis and this lecture is open to students, alumni and the general public.

Kent Sport saver membership

Students, get ready for the new academic year by pre-purchasing your Kent Sport membership (https://kentsport.kent.ac.uk/OnlineMemberships/introduction.aspx), and save £20 with the Student Saver discount! Purchase your membership online or at the Sports Centre and Pavilion receptions from 1 August 2018.

Become a member of Kent Sport and enjoy all the amazing sport, fitness and recreation facilities and activities available. Play badminton with friends, cycle the Crab and Winkle, challenge your housemate to a game of squash, try classes from BodyPump to Zumba or get active in social and competitive sports like football and hockey.

The Sports Centre has a fitness and dance studio, indoor netball, badminton, basketball and squash courts, table tennis and a recently refurbished fitness suite linked to the Kent Sport Physiotherapy Clinic.

At the Pavilion there are indoor and outdoor tennis courts, a cycle hub, cricket pitches and our all-weather floodlit football, rugby and hockey pitches along with a terrific social space at the Pavilion Cafe Bar, which overlooks the outdoor sports facilities.

Join Kent Sport before 11.59pm on Saturday 30 September to get the Student Saver discount. Student membership is valid for use from 1 September 2018 to 31 August 2019. Stretch your body, not your wallet!

Take advantage of this Student Saver sports, fitness and recreation membership offer. To find out more, please visit our Kent Sport website and to stay up to date with Kent Sport news, Like Kent Sports on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @UniKentSport and visit the Kent Sport events calendar to see what’s on.

Fresher’s guide to Kent 2018

For all you newbies, here’s a helpful introduction to Kent and some of the fantastic services available to you.

  • Your school – is a helpful point of contact for all your studying needs. Whether you need guidance on how to reference or employability advice, your school can help, and if they can’t, they will know who can. Find your school and academic adviser.
  • Employability support. In an increasingly competitive job market, we want to make sure you have the skills and experience to stand out. From work experience opportunities to support showcasing your skills, we offer a range of services to help you bag that dream job.
  • Our Student Finance Team is here to help, whether your student loan is late or you just need help managing your money.
  • Kent is a great place to live and study. Here is some useful information to help you while you’re living in Kent over the next few years.
  • As a student you have access to a wide range of support and wellbeing services, including help with a disability, child care and a counselling service.
  • Kent Union is your students’ union and is there to represent the student voice. They also look after a range of student activities including the Summer Ball and societies at Kent.
  • Find out all you need to know about the Templeman Library and IT services on Canterbury Campus. Welcome sessions run all Welcome Week in the Templeman Library. Check your timetable to see if there is a session for your subject booked. If not, or if you miss it, join any session during the week. Visit Hello IT and Library! for more information.
  • Both Canterbury and Medway have good transport links, so you don’t necessarily need a car to get around. You can also benefit from a range of discounts on local transport. Discover some of your options for getting around.
  • When you join Kent you automatically become part of a college. Joining a college community gives you a support network and your Masters’ Office is somewhere you can go for help and advice.

Pay Gaps and Thigh Gaps: SMFA graduating Fine Art students exhibit in London

Between 6th – 10th July, Pay Gaps and Thigh Gaps, an exhibition by a group of graduating SMFA Fine Art students was on at Old Truman’s Brewery in Brick Lane, London, as part of Free Range – A season of Graduate Art & Design Exhibitions.

Established in 2001 to showcase the work of emerging creatives, thousands of students have exhibited at the shows, taking over Old Truman Brewery spaces each summer and connecting with a London audience. It aims to celebrate talent and provide a platform for UK artists beyond education. The show was extremely successful, with an amazing turn out.

SMFA Students featured were:

BA (Hon) Fine Art

Amanda Nsubuga, Alexandra Aldham, Ayesha Chouglay, Angel Obi and Rachael Willis

MA Fine Art

Deborah Abbott

About Pay Gaps and Thigh Gaps:

There seems to be a growing precedent that in order to be recognised as a female artist you must limit your practice to being ‘feminist’. But why can’t a woman speak beyond her gender to gain recognition? We are a group of proud feminists who would like to share varying concerns beyond our genitalia (and possibly surrounding our genitalia- we would like the option). From, childhood imagination, to personal illness, we come together with uniquely different practices, to support each other as artists… who happen to be female.

More at http://www.free-range.org.uk/cgi-bin/exhibition.pl?yearID=27&exhibitionID=1443  and Instagram at pay_gapsandthigh_gaps

 

 

 

 

Kent Hospitality Housekeeping success at the annual BACHE Awards

Many congratulations are due to the Kent Hospitality Housekeeping department who won the ‘Cleaning Supervisor of the Year 2018’ Award at the British Association of Cleaning in Higher Education (BACHE) Awards in May.

By recognising the importance of professional cleaning activities in higher education institutions, BACHE aims to standardise training for cleaning staff, improve cleaning standards, and professionalise the delivery of cleaning and associated services on campus. This year the BACHE awards were held during the annual conference at Aston University.

With only three nomination categories, the team were delighted that Amanda Intrieri, Housekeeping Supervisor in Park Wood won the ‘Cleaning Supervisor of the Year 2018’ award, recognising her efforts and professionalism in performing her role. Kent were also given honourable mentions in the two other categories; the ‘Best Practice Award 2018’, distinguishing teams who continually develop their procedures to enhance the delivery of cleaning services on campus, and the ‘Cleaning Operative of the Year 2018’ award for Hayley Dyer, who works in Eliot College.

Gary Sayles, Executive Housekeeping Manager at Kent Hospitality said: ‘We are thrilled at our success at the BACHE Awards. To be recognised by this national association for our team’s consistent hard work is fantastic, with special congratulations to Amanda Intrieri who won the award. We are proud to deliver a consistently high standard of service here at the University, and to be acknowledged in all three categories is particularly rewarding.’