Christ's College is a
secondary school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
with
academy status in
East Finchley
East Finchley is an area in North London, immediately north of Hampstead Heath. Like neighbouring Muswell Hill, it straddles the London Boroughs of London Borough of Barnet, Barnet and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey, with most of East F ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, United Kingdom. It falls under the
London Borough of Barnet
The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in north London, England. Forming part of Outer London, the borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It is the ...
Local Education Authority
Local education authorities (LEAs) were defined in England and Wales as the local councils responsible for education within their jurisdictions. The term was introduced by the Education Act 1902, which transferred education powers from school bo ...
for admissions. Since September 2018, Christ’s College Finchley has offered education to both girls and boys joining
Year 7
Year 7 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is the seventh full year (or eighth in Australia and England) of compulsory education and is roughly equivalent to grade 6 ...
. The school presently has 860 pupils and specialises in Maths and Sciences.
History
The history of the contemporary Christ’s College has its roots in two different schools:
* Chapel Street School, founded by Rev Watson in 1842, later named Alder School
* Finchley Hall School, founded by Rev Thomas Reader White in 1857, later named Christ’s College.
Alder School, Long Lane
A British School in Chapel Street, East Finchley was opened by local Congregationalists in 1842, but in 1876 fire destroyed the original building, and the new building became Finchley’s first Board School in 1881. East Finchley grew rapidly in the 1880s, and the Finchley School Board decided to build a new building in Long Lane which was opened in 1884, with the staff and pupils moving to the new premises at the end of that year.
In 1931, the school opened a secondary wing and was renamed Alder School, after a chairman of Finchley’s Education committee. It was organised into three school houses, Rangers, Archers, and Foresters. In 1944 it became a mixed Secondary Modern School, and an all-boys school in 1958. It was organised into four school houses, Rangers (Yellow), Archers (Red), Foresters (Green) & Rovers (Blue).
The school was seen as providing a necessary education for skilled workers in the light engineering works of Finchley, such as Simms Motor Units, Hendon and Barnet, and was well thought of. It was also host to Bob Cobbing, the Concrete Sound poet and Jeff Nuttall author of the best seller, 'Bomb Culture' during the 1960s. It was merged with Christ's College in 1978, and the buildings at Long Lane were demolished.
Christ's College, Hendon Lane

In 1857 the Rev Thomas Reader White, Rector of St Mary’s Finchley, opened Finchley Hall School, in Hendon Lane (next to the church, on the site of what used to be Church End Library) in what had been a local inn, the ''Queen's Head''. The following year he had the stable block and the village "cage" removed and a new school built, to designs by
Anthony Salvin
Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on Middle Ages, medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations, such as those of the ...
. The school was an Anglican School, intended to provide a public school education at a reasonable rate.
The school became popular, and a new building was constructed across the road in 1860, with money provided by White's brother who was a rich London merchant, and it was renamed Christ's College. The designs were by the architect Edward Roberts, and its main feature was a 120-foot tower, a local landmark. The school flourished as a private school during the 1860s and 1870s, when its Headmaster was the Rev T C Whitehead. It was under Whitehead that the school was first divided into four houses: North, South, East, and West.
With the loss of its founder, then the self-styled Warden, to a disorder of the brain in 1877, the school went into decline. In 1902, the school was taken over by
Middlesex County Council
Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965.
The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the cou ...
, as the first Middlesex County grammar school, but under John Tindal Phillipson, headmaster since 1895, attempts that were made to rename the school and change its character were resisted, and on the whole the transition was a smooth one. A rifle club was formed in 1904, which soon became a cadet corps. Until 1906 the school playing fields were directly behind St Mary’s church, but in 1906 new fields were acquired further down the hill, near to Dollis Brook.
In 1927, the school increased in size with new buildings, and ceased to be an Anglican institution. In 1972, a new annexe for design and technology was built on land in East Finchley. As a county grammar the school had a strong academic reputation, particularly in the sciences, with many pupils continuing their education at Oxford and Cambridge universities. In 1990 the Hendon Lane (Upper School) site was closed and the school moved in its entirety to the East Finchley site. For some time the building was unused and it was proposed as a venue for an arts centre, but eventually it was sold to a Jewish school (
Pardes House Grammar School).
Christ's College, East End Road
With the foundation of the present school in 1978, the school was split into Upper school, which used the Hendon Lane site, and the Lower. The whole school moved to the new site in 1991, under the Headmastership of Brian Fletcher. In 2002, the then Headmaster Paul O'Shea expanded the sixth form, with the first intake of girls.
Christ's College has become a specialist
Mathematics and Computing College
Mathematics and Computing Colleges were introduced in England in 2002 and Northern Ireland in 2006 as part of the Government's Specialist Schools programme which was designed to raise standards in secondary education. Specialist schools focus ...
, which means the school receives additional funds for investment in its Mathematics and Computing departments. The school's current headmaster is Dr Ruth Hill, who succeeded Mr Samson Olusanya.
Motto and badge
The school badge since 1906 has been a combination of the three notched swords of the traditional county of
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
and a
finch
The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches generally have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where the ...
over an oak tree, the old unofficial arms of the Urban District of Finchley. The motto adopted in 1905 is ''Usque Proficiens'' meaning "Advance all the way".
Combined Cadet Force
The first instance of
cadet
A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...
activity at Christ's College was in 1864, when a Cadet Corps attached to the 14th (Highgate) Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps was formed at the school. This was disbanded in 1867, and few records remain.
The present Cadet Unit was founded in 1904 with the formation of a Rifle Club. Although mainly a rifle club, its members carried military ranks and took part in regular training days. The transformation to a true Cadet Unit took place in 1911 when No.2 Company, 1st Cadet Battalion,
The Middlesex Regiment (as it was officially called) was started at the school. In 1938 the unit was temporarily badged
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
as 'C' (Cadet) Battery of the 61st (Finsbury) Anti-aircraft Brigade. By 1942 the Unit had rejoined the 1st Cadet Battalion wearing the badges of the Middlesex Regiment. When the 1st Cadet Battalion was disbanded in 1948, The Unit became Christ's College Contingent, Combined Cadet Force, a self-administering unit, which it remains today.
In 1952, the Unit was presented with its own Colours, in memory of those members of the Contingent who fell in battle during the Second World War. The school's
Combined Cadet Force
The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which operates in schools, sub divided into Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force sections. Its aim is to ...
(CCF) is among the tiny handful in the country to carry colours. The last major change was in 1969 when the affiliation to
the Middlesex Regiment ceased and permission was given for the Contingent to wear the badges of
the Parachute Regiment. From July 2021, The unit has become
Coldstream Guards
The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...
.
Rugby union
The school has made contributions to the sport of rugby union. The
scrum cap
The scrum cap is a form of headgear used by Rugby football, rugby players to protect the ears in the scrum (rugby), scrum, which can otherwise suffer injuries leading to the condition commonly known as cauliflower ears. Although originally design ...
was invented at the school and first worn by the school's 1st XV. Three alumni went on to make notable contributions to the sport:
*
C. J. Monro (at Christ’s College 1867–69), introduced rugby to New Zealand
*
R. W. Shepstone Giddy (at Christ’s College 1871–74) and later Solicitor General, Cape Colony, was one of the men who introduced rugby to South Africa
*
W. P. Carpmael, who was at the school from 1876 to 1883, founded the
Barbarian Football Club, the team that by tradition plays the last match in a tour of the UK by Australia, New Zealand or South Africa.
Notable former pupils
*
David Bernstein,
FA Chairman
*
Peter Bonnington, British
Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
engineer. He is currently the senior race engineer for
Lewis Hamilton
Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with M ...
at
Mercedes-Benz in Formula One
Mercedes-Benz, a German luxury automotive brand of the Mercedes-Benz Group, has been involved in Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1954. The current Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team is based in Brac ...
from 1986-1994
* Sir
Arnold Burgen
Sir Arnold Stanley Vincent Burgen Royal Society, FRS (20 March 1922 – 26 May 2022) was a British physician, pharmacologist, academic and university administrator. He was Master of Darwin College, Cambridge, from 1982–89, Deputy Vice-Chancel ...
, President of the
International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology 1972-5 and of
Academia Europaea
The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences.
The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...
from 1988–94
*
Leslie Burgin
Edward Leslie Burgin (13 July 1887 – 16 August 1945) was a British Liberal and later Liberal National politician in the 1930s.
Biography
Born to Edward Lambert Burgin, a solicitor, Burgin studied law at the University of London, graduating ...
, Liberal MP for
Luton
Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census.
Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...
from 1929–31
*
Richard Desmond
Richard Clive Desmond (born 8 December 1951) is a British publisher, businessman, and former Pornography, pornographer. According to the 2021 ''Sunday Times Rich List'', Desmond was the 107th richest person in the United Kingdom.
He is the fo ...
, Publisher and proprietor of the ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
''
*
Frank "Lofty" England,
Jaguar Cars
Jaguar (, ) is the sports car and luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational corporation, multinational automaker, car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that ...
'
Le Mans
Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...
-winning team manager and later company CEO
*
Nick Fudge, painter, sculptor, and digital artist
*
Harvey Goldsmith, Entertainment promoter
* Sir
Demis Hassabis Computer game designer, artificial intelligence programmer,
neuroscientist
A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist specializing in neuroscience that deals with the anatomy and function of neurons, Biological neural network, neural circuits, and glia, and their Behavior, behavioral, biological, and psycholo ...
, world-class games player and Nobel Prize winner
*
Izrael Hieger
Izrael Hieger DSc (London) (13 June 1901 – 14 October 1986) was a biochemist whose work focused on carcinogenesis. He discovered the first known organic carcinogenic compound. In 1937 Hieger, with colleagues Ernest Kennaway and J. W. Cook, was ...
Biochemist who discovered the first known organic carcinogenic compound
* Professor
Anthony Hollander, Head of the Institute of Integrative Biology,
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...
from 2014 to present
*
Stanley Kalms, Baron Kalms
* Sir
John Kingman, Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...
from 1985–2001
* Sir
Peter Lachmann, Sheila Joan Smith Professor of Immunology at the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
from 1977–99
*
Roger Lyons, General Secretary of
Amicus from 2002-4, and of
MSF from 1992–2002
*
Louis Marks, television screenwriter and producer
*
Parry Mitchell, Baron Mitchell
Parry Andrew Mitchell, Baron Mitchell (born 6 May 1943) is a British businessman and Labour member of the House of Lords. On 10 May 2000, Mitchell was created a life peer as Baron Mitchell, of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden, and ...
*
Stanley Mitchell, UK academic and Russian scholar
*
Edward Warner Moeran, Labour MP for
South Bedfordshire
South Bedfordshire was a local government district in Bedfordshire, in the East of England, from 1974 to 2009. Its main towns were Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Leighton Buzzard.
Creation
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 as part of a ...
from 1950-1
*
Charles John Monro
Charles John Monro (5 April 1851 – 9 April 1933), sometimes also referred to as Charles Munro in accordance with his Clan Munro, clan name, is credited with introducing rugby union to New Zealand.
Early life
Monro was born on 5 April 1851 in ...
, introduced Rugby Union to New Zealand
*
Ray Park, actor
*
David Pentecost, composer, writer, retired I.T. specialist
*
Steve Richards, political correspondent and GMTV presenter
*
Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi ( ; ; born 9 June 1943) is an Iraqi-British businessman and the co-founder, with his brother Maurice, of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. The brothers led the business – the world's largest advertising agency in the 19 ...
, advertising executive and art collector
* Daniel Sabbagh, Associate Editor at ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' newspaper
*
Sir Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks, Chief Rabbi of Great Britain
*
Will Self
William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English writer, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Se ...
, novelist, journalist, broadcaster
*
Jon Sopel, BBC journalist and former presenter of ''The Politics Show''
*
Michael Stern, Conservative MP for
Bristol North West
*
Sir Peter Strawson, philosopher
*
Alfred Wilkins, cricketer
*
Sir William Tritton, co-invented the tank
*
Eric Williams
Eric Eustace Williams (25 September 1911 – 29 March 1981) was a Trinidad and Tobago politician. He has been dubbed as the " Father of the Nation", having led the then-British Colony of Trinidad and Tobago to majority rule on 28 October 1956, ...
, writer
*
R. K. 'Bobby' Wilson, British
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
icon, four times Wimbledon quarter finalist
*
David Young, Baron Young of Graffham
*
Prof Graham Zellick, CBE, QC,
Vice-Chancellor
A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...
,
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
1997-2003
Notes and references
Further reading
School WebsiteOfsted datafor this school,
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...
website.
Cadet regimental association
{{authority control
Academies in the London Borough of Barnet
Boys' schools in London
Educational institutions established in 1906
Secondary schools in the London Borough of Barnet
1906 establishments in England