Dr Lois Lee, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies, will be taking part in an online panel discussion and Q&A hosted by Theos and Culham St Gabriel’s Trust on Wednesday 21 October titled ‘Worldviews in Religious Education’.

The event will consider the concept of a “worldview” and how it can enhance religious literacy in the UK – with particular implications for how Religious Education is taught in schools. Respondents will offer thoughts on the report, before opening up a discussion of how the concept of worldviews might impact upon our understanding of our religion or belief landscape more widely.

This event will be of interest to anyone concerned about the future of RE, and about how we develop greater public understanding of our diverse and complex society. You can register for this event via Eventbrite.

All University staff are invited to take part in the BAME Staff Network All Staff Survey 2020, which launches on Thursday 8 October. Findings from the survey will help the BAME Staff Network explore and examine staff experiences of working at Kent.

About the Network

The BAME Staff Network was launched in 2019 to support the University’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusivity and provide an active forum for BAME staff to discuss issues and experiences important to them. Full Terms of Reference for the Network can be seen on the HR webpages.

Current Network Co-Chairs are Dr Bridget Ng’andu, Dave Thomas, Dr Barbara Aduwemi and Vanisha Jassal; all have been staff members at Kent for several years. Two of the Co-Chairs are also studying at the University. They therefore bring a range of experience and knowledge related to both staff and students – critical to a comprehensive understanding of BAME experiences at the University. To find out about the people behind the Network, take a look at the blog and videos produced by the Co-Chairs during the University’s virtual ‘Belong and Grow’ week in May 2020.

Following its launch last year, a key objective of the Network has been to reach out to all staff members so please contact the Network at bamestaffnetwork@kent.ac.uk if you would like to talk to the Co-Chairs about membership or any other matters. Please note that this inbox is only accessible by the four Co-Chairs and all communication will be kept confidential and anonymous.

Staff survey

The BAME Staff Network All Staff Survey 2020 will enable the Network to continue its collaborative work with the University’s senior management team to address racial inequalities and create an inclusive culture and environment, where all staff are able to thrive, irrespective of their race or ethnicity.

We want to hear the views of all staff on working at the University and whether you think there is anything we can do to eradicate racial discrimination and advance race equality. This survey is just one of the ways you can be involved and we will be communicating regularly to keep you up to date with the race equality work we are undertaking. We are seeking views from all staff – academic, professional services, Estates and Hospitality – to help inform our future actions. The survey has been approved by the SSPSSR ethics committee and the data will allow the Network to produce necessary research.

You can go directly to the survey by clicking on this link. The link includes more information about the survey’s purpose and objectives, and outlines its complete anonymity and confidentiality.

The survey will be open from 8 October until 8 November 2020 and the Network hopes that as many staff members as possible will participate. If you have any questions about the survey, please email the Co-Chairs at: bamestaffnetwork@kent.ac.uk

Thank you,
Bridget, Dave, Barbara and Vanisha, Co-Chairs of the BAME Staff Network

To support this year’s Learning at work week, and the theme “Learning Journeys”, we will be sharing useful learning tools, factsheets, talks and videos each day. We will be focusing on the following themes:

Monday 5 October – Self Motivation

Tuesday 6 October – Time to Reflect—Wellbeing

Wednesday 7 October – Change

Thursday 8 October – Celebrating Learning Journeys

Friday 9 October – Continue Learning

These learning tools will be shared each day via our Teams channel and blog. If you would like to be added to our channel, please email Ldev@kent.ac.uk Our blog can be found on our latest news webpage.

Thursday 8 will also feature opportunities to attend sessions.

Join our Employee Apprenticeship Manager, Loretta Izod, from 10.00 -11.00 am on Teams, to learn more about the  many opportunities that Apprenticeships provide. Please email ldev@kent.ac.uk to register your attendance.

Learning at Work Week: Live. Between 13.00 – 17.00, the Campaign for Learning will be running a free online learning event, delivering 16 learning sessions. To find out more, and to register for the event, please visit their website. 

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 5 October – Friday 9 October) webinars are as follows:

Monday 5 October 2020 –  ‘How Care first can support you & an update on our services’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link.

Tuesday 6 October 2020 – ‘Change and Resilience during the pandemic’
Time: 12.30-13.00 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Wednesday 7 October 2020 –  ‘Top tips for working at home’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Thursday  8 October 2020 – ‘Loneliness and Isolation ‘
Time: 12.00-13.00 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Friday 9 October 2020 – ‘Mental Health Awareness’
Time: 12.00-12.30 – to register please click on this Go to webinar link

Our first week of teaching – with lectures online, labs and some small group seminars face-to-face – is now well underway. This is a huge achievement, ensuring we can do our work in a safe way and being flexible in how we have to respond to a changing external context. I would like to express my appreciation for the hard work that continues to be undertaken by all staff across the University. I had the pleasure of seeing colleagues and students around the Canterbury campus this week and, in particular, at an ‘archaeological dig’ near Blean Church. It was great to hear direct from first years, and postgraduates, how they were experiencing their first few weeks at Kent, even if it was at a distance with face masks in situ!

Like most universities, we have a small number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 amongst students in University accommodation at Canterbury. The students are self-isolating in line with Public Health England guidelines and their close contacts are also self-isolating where necessary. We are providing all those affected with academic and wellbeing support and will continue to work closely with the public health bodies who are advising us at this time. The Covid-19 testing centre remains operational on site for staff, students and members of the wider community.

You do not need me to tell you that we are all in a dynamic situation. We will continue to review and adapt how we are working in response to changes in Government policy and our local environment. One thing is clear; we are going to have to live with the uncertainties arising from coronavirus for the foreseeable future. Our Covid response planning continues and we are working hard to ensure we are able to address the challenges in terms of teaching delivery, campus operations and student and staff health and wellbeing we are likely to face over the next few months. We will continue to keep updated.

With thanks and best wishes to you and your families,

Karen

Professor Karen Cox | Vice-Chancellor and President

Dr Patricia Norvillo-Corvalan, Head of the Department of Comparative Literature, will appear on the BBC’s The Forum: Jorge Luis Borges, on Thursday 8 October at 10.00 on BBC World Service.

Borges’ works have become classics and an influence not just on many Latin American novelists but on countless writers around the world. Yet although he is one of the most analysed figures in literature, even his greatest fans struggle to fully explain his writing. This programme will ask: ‘what accounts for his enduring fame?’

Patricia will be appearing alongside other experts on Borges including Professor Evelyn Fishburn, from University College London, author of Hidden Pleasures In Borges’s Fiction; and Edwin Williamson, Professor at Oxford University and editor of the Cambridge Companion to Jorge Luis Borges.

If you start to experience symptoms of Covid-19 or have been advised to self-isolate, it is important that you know what to do; how this should be reported and the procedures you need to follow.

Key Covid-19 symptoms are:

• high temperature (fever) – you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• new continuous cough – coughing for more than an hour, or three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• new loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – you cannot smell or taste anything or things smell or taste different to normal.

To ensure we keep our community as safe as possible, all staff are asked to familiarise themselves with the new reporting procedures.

Guidance for staff

If you display any of the key Covid-19 symptoms, or you need to self-isolate, you should follow our reporting procedure for staff, which includes guidance on:

• booking a Covid-19 test – we have testing centres on both our Canterbury and Medway campuses
• what to do if you become unwell while on campus
• reporting a positive test
• self-isolating if someone in your household tests positive or you are contacted by the NHS Test and Trace Service
• how your absence is reported on Staff Connect.

Guidance for managers

Managers are advised to also read the separate reporting procedure for managers to ensure appropriate and necessary action is taken in the event a member of staff reports Covid-19 symptoms, a positive test, or a requirement to self-isolate.

Further information on Covid-19, including updated FAQs on wearing face coverings and visitors on campus, is available on the staff coronavirus webpages.

The University is celebrating the launch of a new Language Centre which offers Kent students the opportunity to study a variety of language modules.

The new Language Centre allows students to study language modules as part of their existing degree programme or as an additional extracurricular module.

Nine modern foreign languages – Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian and Spanish – are offered at different levels to suit students who already have some language knowledge or who are starting as complete beginners.

Dr Wissia Fiorucci, Director of the Language Centre, said: “We’re delighted to launch the University’s new Language Centre, which brings all our language provision together and gives students the option to choose from a range of nine modern languages at different levels; they can strengthen existing skills or pick up something new from scratch!

As we celebrated the European Day of Languages on 26 September, there could not be a better time to promote the benefits of language learning and to give as many students as possible the opportunity to benefit from the enthusiasm and expertise of a dedicated team of language teachers from all over the world.”

For more information, email languages@kent.ac.uk.

Dr Alvise Sforza Tarabochia, Head of the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, and Dr Wissia Fiorucci, Director of the Language Centre, have received a grant from the University Council for Modern Languages (UCML).

The grant supports the Modern Languages Teaching Forum, which aims to bring together teachers of modern languages at all levels to share good practice, discuss the challenges facing the sector, support language teaching and promote the language learning.

The Forum has already met a number of times, discussing themes including grammar, speaking and – most recently – distance learning in modern languages. The group plan to reconvene in late November, once again with a distance learning theme but this time with a particular focus on assessment.

Alvise said: “We are delighted to receive the support of UCML, and to be notified on such an apt day! We have just celebrated the European Day of Languages, which reminds us that linguistic diversity is the best tool to achieve intercultural understanding. The Modern Languages Teaching Forum at the University of Kent, now with the support of UCML, will continue its local, national and international effort to bring together teachers of modern foreign languages, at all levels, in order to promote the wonders of learning new languages and unlocking their cultures.”