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Testing out a theory

SummerZone is back for 2019

With the school holidays just around the corner, Kent Sport has the perfect solution to keeping your children entertained this summer – SummerZone! With up to two weeks of professional sports coaching, led by qualified and DBS checked coaches and supported by sports supervisors, SummerZone cures the summer boredom and gets your children active. If your child(ren) are aged five to 14 and would enjoy taking part in a variety of sporting activities on a daily basis, including football, kwik cricket, tag rugby, hockey and tennis, then book them on SummerZone 2019!

SummerZone will run from 09.00 to 15.00 daily from Monday 12 to Friday 16 August (week one), and Monday 19 to Friday 23 August (week two). Late pick-ups are available from 15.00 to 17.00 and will include staff-led fun games and creative activities.

“This is a wonderful sports camp. We are grateful that Kent Sport organises it. Our son absolutely loved it!” – proud parent of previous SummerZone attendee

You can book places for SummerZone now through the website. Booking is available for one week, two weeks or individual days. For full details please click here. Booking closes on Friday 26 July.

To stay up to date with Kent Sport news, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter UniKentSports and if you have any questions you can email sportsenquiries@kent.ac.uk.

KVSS application deadline: Friday 21 June 2019

A reminder that the KVSS (Kent Voluntary Severance Scheme) application deadline is 21 June 2019. Applications submitted after this date will not be considered.

All applications received by the deadline will be considered by the KVSS Group (a sub-group of Executive Group) and decisions will be sent to applicants between 1 and 7 August 2019.

You can find out more about the Scheme on our HR webpages.

If you are interested in applying, please discuss this as soon as possible with your line manager or head of school/professional service department. If you would like a quotation before applying, the last day to request an initial KVSS quotation is Friday 7 June 2019.

If you have any questions, email our HR team: KVSSenquiries@kent.ac.uk.

Temporary Student Union shop closures

Due to the exciting redevelopment of the two SU Shops to Co-ops, there will be some temporary closures over summer. But don’t worry – there will always be a store open to ensure you can still get everything you need.

The Park Wood SU Shop will close Monday 15 July, reopening Thursday 25 July as Park Wood Co-op.

The SU Shop, Union Plaza will then close Friday 26 July, reopening Thursday 29 August as Kent Union Co-op.

Lunchtime BBQ for staff

All University of Kent staff are invited to a lunchtime BBQ hosted by the Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Karen Cox.

The lunchtime BBQs will take place on the Registry Lawn in Canterbury on Wednesday 26 June (12.00 -14.00) and outside No 1 Bistro in Medway on Monday 24 June (12.00-14.00).

Please register for either Canterbury or Medway and bring your ticket with you on the day.

The RSVP for this event is Monday 17 June – please register as soon as possible as this is a popular event.

Vegetarian and vegan food will be provided, but please do register any other dietary requirements.

The BBQs are free events for staff and we would hope to see you there.

Please email events@kent.ac.uk if you have any further questions.

SECL Student Success Project Initiatives: tackling attainment and retention gaps

The next in a series of Student Success (EDI) Project Staff Seminars will look at a portfolio of interventions and consider which have worked well to bring about change.

Dr Laura Bailey, Student Success Lecturer and Philippa Moreton, Student Success Co-ordinator from the School of European Culture and Languages, will present SECL’s multi-pronged approach to tackling attainment and retention gaps.

Having “thrown a whole bag” of different interventions at the school “to see what sticks”, Laura and Philippa will highlight a range of interventions, from short-term, one-off instances of specific assistance to more wide-reaching, long-term institutional change in the running of the school.

The seminar takes place on Friday 7 June in Keynes Seminar Room 4, Canterbury Campus from 13.00- 14.00.

The seminar is open to all staff and registering to attend couldn’t be easier. Simply email studentsuccessproject@kent.ac.uk to reserve your place.

Gulbenkian to showcase highlights from Drama and Theatre student work

We are delighted to announce the Gulbenkian Picks from our Drama and Theatre students’ summer festival of student work, to be performed in the Gulbenkian theatre on Tuesday 4 June 2019.

Two performances have been chosen, one representing the Stage 1 students taking DR339: Making Performance 2, and one from the Stage 3 students as the culmination of the module DR678: Creative Project.

Adam’s Birthday Party, by The Bald Sopranos, is the first chosen performance from our Stage 1 students. The ensemble have been experimenting with various performance practices and plays chosen from different moments in the 20th Century (including Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, Susan Glaspell’s The Verge, Eugene Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano and Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine).

From Stage 3, the Gulbenkian has chosen the show Toxxicc, by ensemble Britney’s Peers. Having graduated from University, Ally, Em, Shan and Josie reunite in their hometown. After getting kicked out of a party for drunken behaviour, the girls plonk themselves on a bus stop bench. In 40 minutes, the girls tackle sex, body image, infidelity, and last, and definitely least, BOYS!

The Gulbenkian is open to the public and seats 340. The show will be free, beginning at 7.30pm. For further details, please see the page here.

Congratulations to Film student George Turner

George Turner, who is currently studying on the BA (Hons) in Film, was nominated as a semi-finalist for the Best Experimental UK Short Film in the London International Motion Pictures Awards (LIMPA) 2019.

The film follows the journey of a young photographer, asking are our passions always worth pursuing? When does enthusiasm become obsession? Is independence an asset or a hindrance?

George explained the background to the film: ‘The project was a joint effort between myself and Lee Reynolds – a friend and colleague for many years; our film collaborations began at our Sixth Form College (now known as USP). It was shot back in January 2017.

‘What is most interesting is LIMPA’s recognition of our film; I submitted the film for competition in August 2018. It was the only competition that the film was submitted to. In early May I received a notification that we had been shortlisted for Official Selection and, a week later, Semi-Finals. We were honoured to have been selected.’

Seclusion received a screening last week, 24 May 2019, at Regent’s University in London, as part of the awards festival. However you may view the film via the YouTube link here.

FilmTalk series: ‘The Future is X-Rated’

Lawrence Jackson, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Film and Head of Film Practice, has curated a season of films, ‘The Future is X-Rated’, to be screened in the Gulbenkian, Kent’s on-campus commercial cinema.

The season consists of three mainstream films from 1969 that were originally certificated X for their content. As well as celebrating each film’s fiftieth anniversary, the screenings aim to capture a moment that, culturally, anticipated the greater freedoms of the 1970s and beyond. Just a few years later lay X-rated arthouse and studio smash hits such as Last Tango in Paris and The Exorcist were released. Before that, in 1969, these films blazed a trail and foretold the future.

The series begins on Monday 3 June with The Wild Bunch (dir. Sam Peckinpah). The film is considered a masterpiece by, among others, western expert Ed Buscombe, and demands to be seen on the big screen. Its handling of extreme violence arguably influenced later mainstream American cinema from The Deer Hunter to Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, and it was memorably lampooned by Monty Python as Sam Peckinpah’s Salad Days. The screening will feature an introduction by Professor Peter Stanfield from the School of Arts. For more details, please see the page here.

Monday 10 June sees the screening of Midnight Cowboy (dir. John Schlesinger). Another modern American classic underpinned by a sensitive Oscar-winning screenplay by Waldo Salt and complemented by a great John Barry score and powerful performances from Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman. What’s also astonishing is the trajectory of its British director John Schlesinger, who went from British New Wave hits such as Billy Liar and Far From the Madding Crowd to winning a Best Director Oscar for this New York tale of heartbreak. The film will be introduced by Alaina Schempp, a PhD in Film student from the Department of Film. For more details, please see the page here.

Finally, the final film in the series, Taste the Blood of Dracula (dir. Peter Sasdy), will screen on Thursday 13 June. Fairly late in Hammer’s Dracula cycle, this is nonetheless an impressive entry in the studio’s roster, featuring Christopher Lee returning in his signature role and, in Anthony Hinds’ sophisticated screenplay, a satire of the hypocrisy of Victorian patriarchal society. The film will be will be introduced by Professor Julian Petley, Brunel University, London. For more details, please see the page here.

Tickets cost £8.70 with concessions available. For full details, please see the Gulbenkian’s website.

Exercise your pains away with free app Injurymap

University of Kent staff and students can now get a year of free access to the physiotherapy app Injurymap. The proven path to reducing muscle and joint pain is through exercise. Injurymap makes it easy to perform the most effective exercises with a personalised training program. The app adapts each exercise to your strengths and weaknesses and provides you with the safest and shortest path to recovery.

We all experience pain in our muscles and joints from time to time, be it back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, knee pain or one of the many other areas that can lead to discomfort and impact your quality of life. So just download the app and experience the benefit of tailored guidance at your fingertips. To conduct some of the exercises referred to by the app visit Kent Sport Physiotherapy Clinic in the Sports Centre to collect your free exercise band.

Injurymap is made available to you through a collaboration between Kent Sport Physiotherapy Clinic, Kent Business School and Injurymap. After creating an account within the app, Injurymap will send you an invitation to join a research project administered by Professor Ben Lowe and Dr Des Laffey from the University of Kent.

Why not book an appointment with Kent Sport Physiotherapy Clinic to compliment your use of Injurymap. For details to our limited time incentive offer please visit www.kent.ac.uk/sports/physio or email physio@kent.ac.uk.

Book your place at Digital Accessibility Conference on 6 June

Is your work digitally inclusive? Make sure it is by attending the first Kent Digital Accessibility Conference, at the University’s Canterbury campus, on Thursday 6 June.

The conference marks an exciting new link-up between the University and Kent Connects, an innovative IT partnership of public sector providers including Kent County Council (KCC).

Working alongside Kent Connects will help us create a high accessibility baseline for the county and meet under our obligations under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations (2018).

The ‘Creating a Digitally Inclusive County’ conference is being jointly hosted by the University’s Student Support and Wellbeing team and Kent Connects to celebrate our shared vision for the county. It’s also your opportunity to get involved in a countywide network of excellence, and share best practice with the experts.

Plenary topics will include:

The Government Digital Service on new regulations
Experts who are affected by these issues every day
Microsoft Accessibility
Kent authorities on countywide support
The University of Kent on tools for enhanced digital experience

And practical workshops will be hosted by:

Accessibility auditors
Plain English professionals
Microsoft accessibility advisors
Assistive technology experts

The conference takes place in Woolf College from 09.30-16.00 and refreshments, including lunch will be provided. Book your FREE place now on Eventbrite.

Information about arrival, parking and specific agenda timings will be sent after registration.

To find out more, email AccessibilityEvents@kent.ac.uk.