{"id":851,"date":"2025-10-27T09:00:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T09:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/?p=851"},"modified":"2025-10-27T15:02:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T15:02:17","slug":"belonging-and-beyond-at-kent-a-three-phase-welcome-that-lasts-all-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/2025\/10\/27\/belonging-and-beyond-at-kent-a-three-phase-welcome-that-lasts-all-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Belonging and Beyond at Kent: a three-phase welcome that lasts all year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"lead\">Belonging &#038; Beyond is Kent\u2019s answer to that question, a year-long, three-phase programme designed to strengthen the sense of belonging among Black and ethnically minoritised students and to invite everyone at Kent to grow their cultural awareness and inclusive practice. It\u2019s a practical blueprint for community: Pre-Welcome, Welcome Week, Post-Welcome &#8211; one journey, three movements.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/student-success\/news-and-events\/1707\"><strong>Phase 1 \u2014 Pre-Welcome: You\u2019re not starting alone<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Phase 2 Wrap-up \u2192 rich, real, and impactful<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Both in-person events in <strong>Phase 2<\/strong> delivered what students asked for: honest stories, practical insight, and spaces to connect.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-852\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/files\/2025\/10\/Image.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1008\" height=\"756\" \/>1 October, <em>Belonging &amp; Beyond: Welcome to the Kent Community<\/em>.<\/strong> Students and staff shared their journeys, \u201cday-in-the-life\u201d tips, and what they wish they\u2019d known from the start. The networking rooms, games\/crafts, and societies signposting made it easy to meet people and plug into support, plus the cultural free food went down a treat.<\/li>\n<li><strong>21 October, <em>Authenticity in Higher Education: The Influence of Learning on Identity Formation<\/em> with Professor \u2018Lez\u2019 Henry.<\/strong> A powerful session on identity, belonging, and learning that students described as \u201cinteresting,\u201d and \u201caffirming.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Across both events, those who took part told us the experience was <strong>rich and genuinely impactful<\/strong> the kind that calms nerves, builds confidence, and sets you up to thrive.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-857\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/files\/2025\/10\/Image-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1008\" height=\"756\" \/>Phase 3 \u2014 Post-Welcome: the journey continues (all year)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re now in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/whats-on\/event\/78000\/richard-etienne-confidence-in-communication-for-every-student\"><strong>Phase 3<\/strong><\/a>, running <strong>throughout the academic year<\/strong> with a rolling programme of <strong>events, workshops, talks and seminars<\/strong>. These are <strong>for everyone<\/strong>, not just first-years. If you\u2019re in <strong>Stage 2 or 3<\/strong>, this is your chance to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>expand your network and sense of community<\/li>\n<li>grow your <strong>academic capital<\/strong> (learning strategies, insider know-how, navigating Kent)<\/li>\n<li>explore identity, confidence and wellbeing in inclusive, student-led spaces<\/li>\n<li>connect what you\u2019re learning to the <strong>future you want<\/strong> (placements, projects, employability)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>How to get the most out of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/whats-on\/event\/77999\/richard-etienne-confidence-in-communication-for-every-student-workshop\">Phase 3<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Show up, <\/strong>then pick one next step.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ask one question<\/strong> at every session.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Collect three connections<\/strong> (a peer, a staff contact, a service).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Act within 48 hours<\/strong> (join, book, email, apply).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Stay in the loop<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Belonging &amp; Beyond hub:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/student-success\/student-success-home\/our-programmes\/belonging-and-beyond\">See the programme and stories<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>What\u2019s On listings:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/whats-on\/event\/77928\/authenticity-in-higher-education-the-influence-of-learning-on-identity-formation\">Authenticity in Higher Education \u2013 event page<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/whats-on\/event\/76306\/belonging-beyond-welcome-to-the-kent-community\">Belonging &amp; Beyond: Welcome to the Kent Community<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/student-success\/news-and-events\/1707\">Belonging and Beyond at Kent: a three-phase welcome that lasts all year<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Keep an eye on the Belonging &amp; Beyond webpage and watch for upcoming events to <strong>enrich your university journey, sharpen your learning strategies, and build the future you\u2019re aiming for. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Next events: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/whats-on\/event\/78000\/richard-etienne-confidence-in-communication-for-every-student\">October 29<\/a>, <\/strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/whats-on\/event\/77999\/richard-etienne-confidence-in-communication-for-every-student-workshop\">November 13<\/a>,<\/em><strong> \u2026..<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Belonging &#038; Beyond is Kent\u2019s answer to that question, a year-long, three-phase programme designed to strengthen the sense of belonging among Black and ethnically minoritised &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/2025\/10\/27\/belonging-and-beyond-at-kent-a-three-phase-welcome-that-lasts-all-year\/\">Read&nbsp;more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83187,"featured_media":853,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[312383,205698,309363,202865],"tags":[8967,312411,312412,312413,312415,91617],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":867,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions\/867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/student-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}