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Original poster

Finchley Catholic High

34 replies

sonandmum · 20/08/2010 22:05

Hello There,
Can anyone tell me if they have any knowledge of Finchley Catholic High secondary school in Woodside Park. I am basically in turmoil at the moment as living in WEst Hampstead and actually love it but my son is due to start secondary school next Sept and can't find a decent school in this area (Camden borough). Seriously thinking about moving to borough of Barnet as schools seem to be better and can see FCH received good reviews but just don't know anyone that has children or know of children that attend. Any advice would be much :) :)

OP posts:
thetasigmamum · 03/09/2010 13:43

Plenty of schools do this. The fact that these two particular schools are catholic schools is irrelevant.

NL3 · 03/09/2010 11:27

Thanks - thought that might be the case - hope more potential parents are not being swayed by the "improvement"

norflondoner · 03/09/2010 10:59

Its BTEC equivalents.
Another catholic boys school, St Aloysius College in Highgate, has done the same thing. They make their results look excellent but if you ask for the GCSE only results they are much much lower (and the proportion of boys who take GCSEs is also lower).

NL3 · 03/09/2010 08:44

Their GCSE performance has taken a huge leap in the past couple of years outperforming Fortismere and Mill Hill County by a considerable margin. I am curious about how they have achieved this - stronger cohort, better leadership perhaps - or perhaps they are really pushing BTECs - something they don't do at either Fortismere or Mill Hill County. I would certainly require an explanation of the improved performance before I considered it over The Compton, Wren et al.

norflondoner · 02/09/2010 14:50

By "on a par" I meant broadly the same sorts of results and experience. By experience I mean that, other than the religious aspect you son would find a similarly broad range of types of children in terms of ability, social background etc etc. Regarding results I think that those with reasonable ability and strong parental support would be likely to come out with the broadly the same results.

If you are more focused on higher results then you might be wanting to look at schools like Mill Hill County High, Fortismere etc. Wren is also a potential contender.

Original poster
sonandmum · 31/08/2010 13:02

Thanks for the above replies. Northlondoner...When you say 'on par' do you mean for exam results? Thanks

OP posts:
norflondoner · 23/08/2010 14:36

It's good but on a par with Hampstead school and Acland Burghley so unless you are fixated on the catholic bit, you can find similar levels in Camden.

MarsLady · 20/08/2010 23:29

Several friends have sent their children there and I only hear good things. Hth Smile

Original poster
sonandmum · 20/08/2010 23:15

oops 'much appreciated' even!!!

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