Life for Blackheath High School Alumna and Oxford Theology student, Rachel Galbraith, is busy and immensely rewarding. Between studying for an upcoming examination in New Testament Greek, listening to her peers’ concerns as their Gender Equalities’ Officer, battling the cold waters of the Isis as her college’s Novice Rowing Team Captain and planning an oversees global impact project in her capacity as a Laidlaw Scholar, she managed to hop on the train to London to visit her alma mater.  

For someone who effortlessly juggles such a complex web of pursuits, it wasn’t any trouble to slot in a visit to our Senior School in early June. Rachel accepted an invitation from the Philosophy, Religion & Ethics Department to speak to Senior School and Sixth Form students about studying Theology and doing so at Oxford.  

In an almost breathless hour-long presentation, Rachel spoke about joining Blackheath High in Year 7 as an Academic Scholar and throwing herself into all facets of school life. Some of her most memorable experiences included the leadership opportunities on the Head Student Team, regular meetings with our ‘Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ club, a Year 11 community outreach project which saw her interview and transcribe the biographies of residents of Morden College, and a passionate House debate about the merits of Marvel vs Disney.  

One of the key points Rachel made about applying to Oxford was the importance of being a well-rounded candidate. In real terms this means reading voraciously for pleasure, volunteering whenever possible, pursuing a team sport at any level and being passionate about the subject that you want to study. Rachel also gave a good dose of realistic advice about the application process itself, including the importance of reading around your subject and perhaps doing your EPQ on a related concept, as well as the need to write a ‘killer’ personal statement! She advised students who are invited to interview to make good use of the wider GDST network for mock interviews (Rachel was interviewed by another Head of PRE at South Hampstead High School) and helpfully compared the Oxford college system to the GDST family of schools to allow the girls to appreciate how there is individuality in collegiality at further education level too. 

All of this has resulted in Rachel studying a subject that she loves in a world-class centre of learning, a place where she can be herself, pursue an endless menu of opportunities and think deeply about courses as varied as ‘Eastern Christianities from Constantinople to Baghdad’, ‘Magic & the Supernatural’, ‘Source Criticism’ and ‘Ritual & Totemism’. It feels like a natural progression from her experience here at Blackheath High School.  

We look forward to Rachel’s next visit and we hope that we can make our own visit to Oxford’s ‘dreaming spires’ next year; perhaps Rachel can give our next round of budding applicants a personalised tour.   

Written by Sean Green, Head of Philosophy, Religion & Ethics (PRE)