Meet our London Outreach Officer
Hello! I am Sidrah, and I am the London Outreach Officer for ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ I work with schools and colleges in Barnet, Bromley, Bexley, Newham, Greenwich, Lewisham and Waltham Forest to encourage talented students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds to consider Cambridge and other competitive universities. I live in West London and work closely with the Admissions & Outreach Tutor, Dr Chris Scott, and the Schools Liaison Officer, Dr Francesca White, to develop and evaluate our London outreach provision that offers practical support and guidance to London students on their progression journey.
I attended non-selective state schools and completed my BA from Goldsmiths College, University of London, and MA from Durham. After this, I trained as an English teacher and completed my PGCE from King’s College London. I taught in an all-boys’ secondary school for two years, then transitioned to teaching GCSE English Language resits to 16-19 and 19+ learners in a Further Education college. In my classes previously, I have always championed inclusivity and diversity and encouraged my students to extend their worldviews and knowledge beyond what they already knew. I am keen to practise this approach in this new role, as I believe Cambridge is a place for any high achieving student, no matter what their background, and to help prepare your students for the applications.
As part of our Outreach work, we run borough-level engagement programmes for all state schools and colleges in the Caius London link boroughs. This includes an opportunity to visit us for a day through our Spring borough multi-school visits. Additionally, I can contribute to school and college provision by running workshops for young people, teachers and families. These could include applying to universities in general; explaining and demystifying the Cambridge application process; preparing for interviews; higher education finance and more.
If you would like a copy of the programme for your borough, request a workshop for your students or make a suggestion, please do contact me at sidrah.zubair@cai.cam.ac.uk. I recognise that relationships with schools and colleges in our London link areas are central to this and am keen to develop provision that meets the needs of all young people with the potential to progress to Cambridge. I am particularly eager to hear from schools and colleges who we have never had contact with before, so please do get in touch!
