Article by Dave Yard, Head of Marketing at the Gulbenkian:

A firm favourite and must-do event of the summer for families, the bOing! International Family Festival 2021 took place at the University of Kent campus on 28 & 29 August.

Over 5,000 people attended the festival across the weekend, with families enjoying free outdoor performances on stages across the campus, including dancing, juggling, puppetry and a global music stage.

bOing!’s Artistic Director, David Sefton said:

“We were delighted to have bOing! back again this year and the response from our audiences was fantastic! This was a smaller bOing! than usual, with some international artists unable to travel, and social distancing in place but despite this it felt like bOing! was back, the atmosphere was brilliant and everyone had a great time.

Plans are already well under way for bOing! 2022, which will be bigger and more exciting than ever.”

Kent Staff Family Day

Over 800 Kent staff members and their families attended the Kent Staff Family Day at bOing! Festival on Friday 27 August 2021, reuniting with colleagues and family while experiencing live performance, music and fun for all, on our beautiful Canterbury Campus. Organised a big thank you from the University to all Kent Staff in recognition for the tremendous effort put in by all throughout the year, the Kent Staff Family Day at bOing! was FREE for Kent Staff and their families to attend.

Reaction from audiences on Twitter included:

@boingfestival Oh Boing!, how we’ve missed you.  Such an incredible, fun filled day with so many new things to experience and enjoy.  Really the very best family festival bar none. So glad to be back, thank you so much!

The boing festival was, as always, fantastic. What a treat to see live performance again. We love the Gulbenkian; embracing exciting new shows and supporting a range of performing arts. Thank you @boingfestival 2021….you make us very happy.

The festival programme had a range of new work, including Jasmin Vardimon Company’s Alice (VR), an incredible virtual reality experience inspired by Alice in Wonderland and Frozen Light’s Night Out In Nature a fantastic new sensory outdoor piece work for young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

Alongside that bOing! presented Half A String’s The Puppet Van: The Lost Colour, Gandini Juggling’s Smashed2, Upswing’s Catch Me, a Global Sounds Music Stage programmed by Music for Change and GTown Talents and much more in a packed weekend of performance and activities.

bOing! is run by Gulbenkian Arts Centre at the University of Kent and is part of a programme of theatre and film for families that runs all year-round.

Further information about the festival is available online at www.boingfestival.com or call Gulbenkian Tickets & Information on 01227 769075.

Come join us for our Staff Conference: Connect and Collaborate week!

Starting from Monday 13 September and continuing over the five days, we have a number of sessions each day for you to sign-up to and get involved in.

Mainly online and with one or two sessions on campus, each session will be run by colleagues across the University, who will highlight a variety of interesting and important topics showcasing what Kent is all about. From a spotlight on sustainability to discovering what exciting plans are in store for Medway campus, there’s something for everyone!

To say a big thank you to all of you and to finish off the week in style, there’ll be a staff BBQ on Canterbury campus for us all to enjoy.

Feel free to sign-up to as many as you fancy, and don’t worry if you miss one as every online session will be recorded. You’ll find the programme for the week and the sign-up links below:

Staff Conference programme

Monday 13 September

11.00 – 11.30 – WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION – An update on Kent 2025 Strategy & Mid Term Review: Vice-Chancellor Professor Karen Cox will kick off the week with an update on Kent’s 2025 Strategy and where we are after a mid-term refresh. Sign-up to the session.

11.30 – 12.15 – Spotlight on Sustainability at Kent: Led by Dr Catherine Morris, If you want to find out about our sustainability commitments and how we are addressing them, have your say or discover how to get involved in sustainability projects, then this session will be for you. Sign-up to the session.

11.30 – 12.15 – The history of Kent – Farm to University Campus : Learn how the Canterbury campus went from being a farm to the institution we now know from Carole Barron, Head of Knowledge Exchange & Innovation. Sign-up to the session.

12.15 – 13.00 – The Turing Scheme: International placements: a whole new (virtual?) world: Find out what the successor to the Erasmus scheme means for global mobility and explore virtual exchange opportunities at Kent from Hannah McNorton and Emma Marku. Sign-up to the session.

12.15 – 13.00 – An introduction to KMTV and what it can do for you: Want to know more about KMTV and how it can support your work? Tune in to find out more from Sadie Appleby. Sign-up to the session.

Tuesday 14 September

11.00 – 13.00 – RESEARCH AND INNOVATION: Introduction and Overview: Led by Professor Shane Weller (chair). To register for this session or any of the following three presentations, please click here.

• An introduction to the Signature Research Themes: ‘Future Human’ and ‘Migration and Movement’ are two of the three new Signature Research Themes. Find out more from the theme leaders, Dr Lex Mauger and Professor David Herd.
• Collaborative Innovation Projects at Kent: Calling all academics and PSD staff! This 30-minute session led by Janine Coomber and Dr Anastasios Tsaousis, is for all colleagues interested in finding ways to collaborate with external organisations, with information, case-studies and Q&As.
• The KEF and the Concordat – an overview: Find out how two key initiatives are driving change in the way universities engage with businesses. Led by Carole Barron.

11.00 – 11.45 – The Medway strategy: Find out about the exciting plans for the Medway campus from Dr William Collier. Sign-up to the session.

11.45 – 12.30 – QA-ccessibility: How do we incorporate accessibility into our working practices so that digital services are available to all? A session led by Alison Webster and Ben Watson. Sign-up to the session.

12.00 – 13.00 – Tea, Talk and Text – the Staff Reading Group Theme “People and Work: Searching for Meaning” – ON CAMPUS in the Chapel, Eliot College: Led by Revd Dr Stephen Laird, join us for a 50-minute ‘taster session’, where we inform our discussions and reflections with short pieces of text from a variety of religious thinkers and traditions. To register, please email s.c.e.laird@kent.ac.uk so that reading material can be sent to you in good time.

Wednesday 15 September

11.00 – 13.00 – CIVIC MISSION – Introduction and Overview: Chaired by Dr Philip Pothen, this session will explore how three different initiatives are demonstrating the University’s commitment to its communities, its external partnerships and its wider civic mission. To register for this session or any of the following three presentations, please click here.

• iCCi and Creative Kent: Learn how these two initiatives are set to bring creative opportunities to our campuses and communities from Professor Catherine Richardson.
• The Kent and Medway Medical School: one year on: Find out how KMMS’s first year of operations has gone, and how the medical school is opening-up career opportunities for so many from our region, from Dr Anna Romito.
• The high street and civic mission: a pop-up shop in Ramsgate: In this interactive session led by Dr Vicky Mason, find out how to engage and get involved in a world outside academia.

11.00 – 12.15 – GLOBAL CHALLENGES SHOWCASE: Hear about how three research projects are making a global impact.  To register for this session or any of the following three presentations, please click here.

• Meet May & Bay, tackling sextortion and child trafficking in Thailand and Cambodia: Led by Emma Soutar and Professor Jane Reeves .
• Empowering Women in Science: A Global Challenge: Led by Professor Jen Hiscock (Natural Sciences) and Dr Jen Leigh (Centre for Higher Education).
• Sustainable Architecture in a Modern World: Led by Professor Henrik Schoenefeldt, Architecture, Arts & Humanities.

12.15 – 13.00 – QUALITATIVE FINDINGS FROM THE BAME STAFF NETWORK ALL-STAFF SURVEY: Come along to this session led by Dr Barbara Adewumi and Dr Bridget Ng’andu where findings of the survey – conducted by the BAME Staff Network – will be revealed. Outlining key themes to improve race quality from recruitment to career progression, this is a great opportunity for us to discuss what we as an institution can do better. Sign-up to the session.

Thursday 16 September

11.00 – 12.20 – LEARNING AND TEACHING AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE – Introduction and overview: Led by Professor Richard Reece, find out the latest on our approach to health and safety, teaching spaces, the format of staff-student interactions in the new academic year. To register for this session or the following presentation, please click here.

• Student priorities for the new year, with the new President of Kent Union, Aisha Dosanjh: Followed by Q&A

11.00 – 12.15 – A cuppa and conversation – for members of staff who are Kent alumni: Were you once a Kent student and are now a staff member? Want to share your memories of your time here? Or do you have ideas about how we should engage with our alumni? Now’s your opportunity to let us know and to help shape our future plans! Sign-up to the session.

12.15 – 13.15 – A Virtual Tour of Special Collections and the Archives: Based in the Templeman Library, our Special Collections & Archives team care for over 150 archive collections. In this virtual tour, you’ll get the chance to go behind-the-scenes, exploring our basement storage areas, and understanding how we care for the historic material in our care. Sign-up to the session.

12.30 – 13.15 – Two highlight sessions from the Medway Festival of Learning and Teaching: the Medway Festival of Learning and Teaching is jointly organised by the Medway universities to share, promote and celebrate best practice in learning and teaching. Sign-up to one or both sessions below.

• Guided Relaxation for Stress Reduction: Led by Annikki Laitinen.
• Phenomenal Women: Led by Patmarie Coleman.

Friday 17 September

11.00 – 12.00 – Implementing an antiracism strategy for the University: As an institution, and as individuals, we need to challenge and deconstruct systemic racism. In this session, we will introduce the draft Antiracism Strategy for Kent and suggest how you can get involved in this vital work. Led by Professor Georgina Randsley de Moura. Sign-up to the session.

12.00 – 12.45 – Outreach to schools – our widening participation strategy: Dr Marta Almeida Hill will give examples of outreach work we are currently delivering in schools and how we evaluate and measure impact. Sign-up to the session.

13.00 – 15.00 – Staff Summer Fete/BBQ – ON CAMPUS: Book your place now.

If you want to know more or have any queries re the Conference, please get in touch with the organising team at communications@kent.ac.uk.

The name for the new staff intranet, as chosen by you, is KentNet!

Thank you to everybody who submitted their votes and suggestions.

We now need your help to develop the new staff intranet over the next months.

KentNet will become the main place to go for:

• University-wide news (replacing the Staff Guide)
• University-wide resources
• Departmental and divisional news, resources, events and information
• Project information and document sharing
• Specialist topic areas such as Copyright and Finance

By September 2022 SharePoint 2013 sites will become ’read only’ and will be withdrawn from use by the end of 2022.

Support available

Ahead of setting up your area, the Project Team will be holding meetings with key stakeholders to talk through how the intranet will work and what you want it to do for you. We’ve also put together a KentNet Support site with more information on what you’ll need to build your intranet area.

This includes guides on setting up your community site when it comes to it, where to store your files and data, and examples of early prototype intranet sites at Kent.

For further information contact: Izzy Linthwaite, Collaboration Services Owner, through Teams or email.

When did you join the University and why?

I joined Kent in 2012 as a Student Support Officer in the School of Arts. Before that, I was a schoolteacher and worked for ten years in patient advocacy and support for children and young people with long-term medical conditions. I liked the idea of supporting young adults and gaining more experience in HE so when a friend mentioned the SSO post I was keen to apply. I did some lecturing in Arts alongside the Student Support role, but support services were where my interests lay. Becoming Head of College and Community Life last year has given me the chance to have a wider reach and influence over student experience, support and welfare; it’s a perfect fit.

What does being Head of Colleges and Community Life involve?

The University has eight colleges to which all students are affiliated when they come to study here. The College and Community Life team builds college, community and belonging for students on and off-campus. We’re a small team with big expectations, made up of three College Life Officers, who host events, offer support and advice to our student college community, and one Community Life Officer, who supports transition into becoming local student residents in the Canterbury and Medway area.

As the Head of College and Community Life, I’m lucky enough to liaise with the wider student undergraduate and postgraduate communities, to share in their experiences and promote their voices, and to work with Student Union officers and central teams like House Keeping and Campus Security, to ensure the best experience for our students. I also engage with local community stakeholders, such as Residents’ Associations, Kent Police and Canterbury & Medway City Council officers, to promote student safety and integration. It’s a fascinating and rewarding role, and I am really enjoying it.

What effect has the pandemic had on your work and how have you responded?

The pandemic has been a challenge without a doubt but it has also been rewarding to see students and colleagues work so hard and creatively to support each other. The CCL team have been at the forefront of offering practical support to self-isolating students, including friendly texts and calls to mobiles to check how households are managing, sending out jigsaws and baking boxes to do together, and delivering gift-bags funded by alumni supporters to households living on campus. We have hosted events for all our students -, from remote coffee mornings and arts and crafts sessions on Zoom to a face-to-face Escape Room in our office and even outdoor mini-golf – allowing them to come together safely in line with Covid guidelines. With that experience, we are now planning wonderful welcome and social events across the coming year, which will support our new and returning students. If there are challenges remaining, we will be here offering support.

Students playing mini-golf

Looking ahead, what are you and your team planning over the next year?

We are very excited about next year. We will set-up our mini-golf course for Welcome Week, challenging students to complete every hole with bespoke obstacles and some great prizes to be won! Alongside this, we are aware that new and returning students may need more advice and support than ever to get that feeling of belonging and to make social connections. As well as our college BBQs and a welcome talk from me, we will have postgraduate volunteers, called Residential Life Assistants (RLAs), in all our colleges, supporting students to form a College Committee who can suggest events hosted by students for students. All are welcome to get involved by planning, hosting or simply joining in with the fun. Our Community Life Officer will be reaching out to students living in private term-time accommodation too, to give advice on how to stay safe, get on with your neighbours and get support from us.

One specialism in our team is mediation when housemates find it hard to settle into shared living together or need support making connections with others. There will be plenty of information on our College and Community Life webpages and social media, which I would highly recommend students look at and follow. Personally, I am very excited to see students face-to-face on our beautiful campuses and to watch them grow and thrive. That is what we are all here for, after all.

Students planting seeds in the Community Oasis Garden

Outside work, how do you like to spend your time?

I am very boring, I’m afraid. During lockdown, I have discovered the joys of growing my own food on an allotment. I benefit immensely from being out of doors, and growing delicious food is a real bonus. Hopefully, many of our students will benefit in a similar way by volunteering at our Kent Community Oasis Garden. To switch off completely, I turn to fantasy novels (Urban or Pratchett are my favourites) and, once everything is open again, I will be having a cocktail and watching a film in a little cinema somewhere by the sea. Bliss.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

The best piece of advice I ever received and still use every day is “Go to the right people for the right support.” That is so true and it has helped me through some very difficult times. I pass it on, and don’t mind talking about when and what the context was for getting this advice.

As part of our response to both Government guidance and the need to be prepared for any incident response, we will be shortly be hosting Action Counter Terrorism (ACT) Strategic and Operational Counter terrorism training for senior staff and key external partners.

These sessions are intended to give people a better of understanding of the threat from terrorism and the simple security measures that can be taken to protect a business or an organisation. It will give up-to-date training that will make everyone safer, helping those who attend to plan for and/ or respond to an incident or emergency at work.

The training sessions, which are being prioritised by both Executive Group and our wider Senior Leadership, will be facilitated by Counter Terrorism Security Advisors from Counter Terrorism Policing South East. Wider senior staff across the University can also now sign to attend, with two different types of session on offer:

ACT Strategic training is aimed at Executive Group (EG) and Senior Leadership (SL) members. ACT Strategic is a National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) initiative exploring ways to aid businesses in preventing against, managing, and recovering from a terrorist attack.

ACT Operational training is aimed at Operational and Customer facing managers, supervisors and staff in authority. ACT Operational is a NaCTSO initiative exploring ways to aid businesses in preventing, managing, and responding to a terrorist attack.

Training will take place in the Darwin Conference Suite on the Canterbury campus, with measures in place to ensure we meet all Government safety requirements regarding Covid-19. This will take place on the following dates:

• Monday 06.09.2021        OPERATIONAL
• Tuesday 07.09.2021         OPERATIONAL
• Wednesday 08.09.2021   STRATEGIC
• Thursday 09.09.2021       OPERATIONAL
• Thursday 16.09.2021       OPERATIONAL
• Friday 17.09.2021             STRATEGIC

How to book your place on the training:

Please contact Jess Sutherland (Prevent Officer) identifying person(s) attending (first name, family name, job title and email contact details), preferred training date(s), any vehicle details and any specific dietary requirements. This will be on a first come-first served basis and we will try to accommodate preferred training dates and numbers requested.

If you have been invited to attend the training and have not signed up, please do so now via StaffConnect. If you are a front line Manager or Supervisor who has not been invited yet, there are now opportunities for you to attend so discuss with your line manager to get their support and apply via StaffConnect.

As many more of us return to campus over the next few weeks, we have a new resource pack to help us prepare.

The Future of Work resource pack builds on our COPE Framework – developed in response to the first Covid-19 lockdown – and reflects feedback from our Future of Work Staff Survey.

Designed for staff and managers, the pack complements all the support already available across the University as we continue to work through uncertain times. It’s a pack to dip in and out of and think about, rather than something for you to try and absorb all at once.

What’s included

The resource pack includes sections on:

• Reshaping our working environment – reflecting feedback from our Future of Work survey responses, including a call for line managers to have open, honest conversations with their staff and the importance of taking an inclusive approach.
• Connecting with life on campus – underlining the importance of working together and supporting each other, acknowledging that some staff may be anxious about returning to campus, and the key role of line managers.
• Managing meetings in a hybrid environment – planning inclusive communications as some team members are on campus and others work remotely. Reflecting feedback from staff, we are recommending a ‘virtual first’ approach for all meetings during the Autumn term.
• Microsoft Teams etiquette – reflecting our increasing reliance on virtual communications, there is new guidance on day-to-day use of MS Teams, as well as advice on using the private chat tool, and setting up new sites and channels.
• Health and wellbeing – highlighting resources, such as our Employee Assistance Programme and new Inclusion Passport.
• Other helpful resources – including the Staff Guide, our Crucial Conversations programme and MIND.

Tell us what you think

Don’t forget to share with us by email on hws@kent.ac.uk what you’re finding works for you in our new hybrid working environment, or anything you think would be helpful to include in future versions of this resource pack.

If you require the pack in another format to meet accessibility needs, please contact Ldev@kent.ac.uk.

Our official Employee Assistance Programme provider, Care first offers a numbers of services and provide useful advice and support, including weekly webinars.

This week’s (Monday 23 August –  Friday 27 August) webinars are as follows:

Monday 23 August 2021 – ‘How Care first can support you’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Tuesday 24 August 2021 – ‘Ways to reduce your carbon footprint’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Wednesday 25 August 2021 – ‘Compassion fatigue’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Thursday 26 August 2021 – ‘Travelling with unvaccinated children and how to manage the risks’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Friday 27 August 2021 – ‘Has lockdown made you more spontaneous?’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

As part of Kent County Council’s Reconnect scheme for young people this summer, the University is hosting four days of free sports and arts activities for 11 to 15-year-olds next week.

Reconnect is the council’s scheme to encourage young people to reconnect, socialise and take part in fun activities following the Covid-19 pandemic.

There are limited spaces available – on a first-come, first-served basis – for University staff to book their children to join the exciting programme of physical activities and creative arts sessions.

Sports sessions will be led by Kent’s Sports Development Team and include tennis, football and cricket alongside other physical activities and challenges within its campus sports facilities.

Creative arts sessions, including drama, will be delivered by the Gulbenkian Team.

Sessions will cater for all abilities and will take place either side of a free healthy lunch.

Reconnect at Kent runs from Monday 23 to Thursday 26 August (10am-3pm each day).

Individuals can register to attend and find out more by visiting Kent Hospitality’s Reconnect at Kent webpage.

From Nikki Hyde, Deputy Director of Human Resources

Celebrating our campuses as more of us come back to Kent

After such a long gap, it’s hard to believe it’s now nearly time for those who’ve been working off-site to return to their desks. When we first started thinking about our roadmap for staff coming back, it still felt a bit like planning with our eyes closed – and let’s face it, none of us thought it would take this long when we first learnt the language of Teams back in March 2020. 

So, while the impact of the pandemic has thankfully lessened, we recognise what a big impact it’s had on us all. That’s why we’ve put together our Life on Campus programme from 23 August – 17 September to help everyone prepare for our 20 September target of everyone being largely campus-based again. 

I’m sure many will have a few mixed feelings about the return, including those of you who’ve been working on campus throughout – it’s about to get a whole lot busier! It’s going to take time for everyone to adjust and we’ll all need support as we come back; plus a reminder of how special our spaces are and what they mean to us all as a community. 

Something for everyone

We hope there’s something for everyone. All staff can bring their family along to a special day for staff at bOing! on Friday 27 August, including a fantastical VR performance of Alice in Wonderland. Teams can get together for a free game of bat and trap or petanque throughout the month or use our tented village on the Registry Lawn for outdoor meetings, while our Sustainability team will be running special tours that showcase our beautiful surroundings. You can even grab a free coffee with a colleague as a good excuse to get chatting in person again. There are also some more practical things to think about – getting up to speed with what we’ll have in place to keep everyone safe or making sure you’ve popped back to reboot your computer in good time. We’re all going to be learning together, which is the main message in the guidance we’ve put together in our new Future of Work Staff Resource Pack. 

All of this will culminate in our first Staff Conference, where we want to start bringing our community back together after so much disruption. Everyone is also invited to either the Medway Summer Fete on 8 September or the Canterbury Summer Fete on the 17th, so we all get a chance to be together in person for a BBQ on our lawns before the next term begins. 

Having been on site recently, our spaces really are looking beautiful and more than ready to welcome you all, bringing life back onto our campuses before our students join us for the next academic year. I look forward to seeing you there. 

Nikki Hyde | Deputy Director of Human Resources

Throughout September 2021, you can enjoy all things sustainable at Kent. From getting to know our Kent Community Oasis Garden to getting back to nature on a trail walk, the Sustainability team has organised an array of fun activities for you to take part in.

Here’s what in store:

Wednesday 1 September, 12.30 – Sustainability trail and (optional) picnic lunch at the Kent Community Oasis Garden

Location – Leaving from the Senate and finishing at the Kent Community Oasis Garden
(Parkwood)

Environmental Advisor Catherine Morris will be leading a tour of campus following the Sustainable Development Goals trail. Hear about everything Kent is doing for Sustainability, from our net zero carbon targets to our plans to embed sustainability into the curriculum. On
the tour, you can find out how to get involved, ask questions and have your say on
what you think Kent should be doing. The tour will take approximately one hour and finish at
the Kent Community Oasis garden in Parkwood where you are welcome to stay and enjoy a
picnic lunch (bring your own).

Thursday 9 September, 13.00 Campus Nature Trail

Location – Leaving from The Venue Nightclub and finishing at Beckett Court

Sustainability coordinator Emily Mason will be giving staff a guided tour through part of the
campus nature trail. Find out more about the species you can expect to see on campus, how we
manage the campus for Biodiversity and how our new landscape and biodiversity strategy
will be implemented. The tour will take approximately one hour and include walking on trails
and uneven surfaces so please wear appropriate footwear.

Thursday 16 September, 13.00 – Central campus nature walk (accessible)

Location – Leaving from the Marlowe Building entrance and finishing at Darwin college

Sustainability coordinator Emily Mason and Environmental Adviser Catherine Morris will be
giving staff a guided tour focusing on the natural environment of central campus. Find out
more the species you can expect to see on central campus and how to identify trees and
birds. Hear about how we manage the central campus for Biodiversity and how our new
landscape and biodiversity strategy will be implemented. The tour will take approximately
one hour.

Wednesday 22 September, 13.00 – Introduction to the Kent Community Oasis Garden

Location – Kent Community Oasis Garden (Parkwood)

Sustainability coordinator Emily Mason will be giving staff a guided tour of the campus
garden and talking about the plans over the next year. Find out more about what the garden
does and the benefits for the University and wider community. The tour will take
approximately 20-30 minutes and then there will be an opportunity for anyone who wishes to
stay and do some gardening.

To book onto any of these sessions, please email sustainability@kent.ac.uk clearly stating
which event you would like to join.