Finchley Catholic High

[sonandmum]

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 :) :)

[sonandmum]

Hi there, thank you for the above replies and it's really shocking that many schools use this form of manipulation. However from what i understand neither of you have any reason to believe that FCH does any such thing? I talked at length with teachers at the school about individual subject results, which put my mind at rest.
NL3, i'm a little confused as to the above statistics and what they are supposed to be showing me? I am interested so if you could let me know that would be helpful, many thanks.

[norflondoner]

Hi sonandmum, I hope I don't come over as negative about fch. Its a good school and I think I said that before. I have friends with DS there and they are all happy
However I do have direct experience (in a professional capacity) with the ways in which schools manipulate their exam results to show themselves in the best light. This is understandable but its not transparent to parents and results in comparisons being made which are not on a like for like basis. I do have a problem with that.

[NL3]

Sonandmum
2/3 of the boys do business studies
2/3 of the boys do ICT
1/3 of the boys do PE
All of the boys do RS

Regardless of whether they are BTEC or not (and unless you've specifically checked with the school on this point you will not be able to tell from their published results as they do not separate them out) these are hardly the most challenging or well-received GCSEs available. With a bit of a push on maths and english it's not difficult to see how they are achieving such high scores.

That is not to say it is a bad school, because it's not but norflondoner's point checking the results closely is well made and applies to all schools - not just FCH.

[sonandmum]

All of this i checked out some time ago. I looked into how they defined overall grades etc and received single GCSE results for English, Maths, science etc and made sure that results weren't BTEC etc, hence being very pleased. They have a huge range of subjects to study one example of such is Astronomy!! As for media studies i thoughts most schools taught it now? FCH certainly does.

Northlondoner do you have personal experience with FCH. As i'm really confused as to where all of this information has come from, especially as most of it has been negative. I'm just wondering....it's a stressful time finding a suitable school and need to know what's what etc Thanks

[norflondoner]

Be very careful when comparing schools GCSE results.
Has anyone asked FCH what their pure GCSE results are? ie after stripping out all the BTEC equivalents.

Also, look at the list of GCSE subjects that boys study there and compare very carefully with the other schools you are looking at. Are they traditional and academic subjects or do they include subjects such as Construction, Media Studies etc....

[sonandmum]

Patymum,I too loved FCH!!

Not quite sure where above information has been taken from but FCH GCSE results were fantastic, if you check out the league they came almost top in Barnet (apart from QE and Mill Hill County) and if you are judging by academic success they also had better results than Fortismere!!!

I'm not too sure about the ethos etc for Fortismere, but from friends who have children in the school have heard very mixed reviews.

FCH whilst is traditional in many senses ie uniform, traditional values, the school is extremely modern. You only have to look at the performing arts side or the music, or sports. I'm a writer, so obviously creativity is very important to me, as well as academic results and personally i think the school looks great.

The children are respectful and appear to have very nice, honest relationships with the teachers and the kids appear buzzing with energy and seem really happy which to me is half the battle.

As for location, that is taken into account if they are over subscribed but i would imagine 2 miles should be okay (i hope)! Going by what you said you should be fine.

I would advise to defo go and see Fortismere to compare, i'm visiting several schools to make sure i make the right choice but good luck!

[NL3]

Definitely a "more of the same approach" - the only difference for the new intake appears to be that they will move classes at the end of the Autumn term (not sure what is in place at the moment - DS is further ahead in the school and missed out on the CAT testing in Y7 - although he has benefited from the early GCSE start in Science, Maths and English). She also focussed on the children who are not getting 5A*-C and seems to be very interested in attendance and punctuality.

[quintet]

Great - thanks for the feedback NL3!
My DS needs a little pushing iyknwim and so the focus on academics that the previous head had was quite important to us. Hopefully we'll have a net gain if she keeps the focus but has a more "human" approach.

[NL3]

Yes I do. I really liked her, very warm and enthusiastic, relaxed, and appears competant. Lots of other parents I know were also impressed and only went to the open evening to have a look at her (all have other DCs at the school). The feedback from the students is good too - she has spoken at their assemblies I think - she seems very "human" apparently. Obviously the proof of the pudding will be in her performance but the first impressions are good.

[quintet]

NL3 do you have dc at fortismere?
My ds has just started in yr 7 and is loving it but I have been concerned about what might happen under a new headteacher.
I haven't seen her yet as I wasn't able to attend the y7 parents evening. Can you tell me more?
I don't know anyone else at the school so desperate for info!

[NL3]

You just missed the Head's speech. The Open Afternoon is on the 7th October one session at 2pm and one at 3pm. If your son is at a local school they will allocate one of the sessions to you, if not from a local school you can attend either.

[patymum]

thanks ever so much!!!!

Yes, i see the points of both schools being different.

My son is the sort of sporty ,not so academic as just yet but he tries.

I am worried that I will opt for FHC and regret later..


No ,I didnt get to go to the openning evening I have opted for the FCH at the same night I will ring them and check whether we could still visit the school I will probably change my mind once I've visited them.

Thanks guys!!!I am sure I will make the right choice,,but is such a dilema..xx

[NL3]

Generally boys from the local catholic school in MH get into FCH without difficulty - about six years ago only Barnet residents got in but to my knowledge this has not happened since.

Fortismere is a lot more academic - look at the destinations list from the sixth form leavers - Fortismere's list is sigificantly more impressive. I would also be concerned about the prevalence of BTECs at FCH. I think FCH suits sporty less academic boys and they do well there.

Did you actually visit Fortismere? (I say this because I know the open evenings clashed) Fortismere is a little alternative (one of it's attractions I think :)) but there is very good discipline within the school and the teachers are excellent. The new head is also very promising and the parents I know are delighted with her.

Good luck in your choice, as NL says, you are in a great position.

[norflondoner]

FCH don't publish the furthest distance offered but I have known boys from muswell hill to get in.
It would be worth calling the school and asking the admissions lady whether she thinks you would be likely to be offered a place.

Fortismere and FCH are completely different types of school. FCH is much more old fashioned, traditional, uniform etc. However, Fortismere does get much better academic results.

You are extremely lucky to have such a great choice of schools!. Go for the one you think your son will be happiest at.

[patymum]

Hi there
I am new here,loving all the info!
and lost with the CODE DS ,DD etc..hehe

I went to an opening evening at FCH tuesday,absolutelly loved it!The headmaster's speech was precise and sincere.

Great facilities!great drama and music department ,new 142 mac computers on ICT dep,my son loved the school's sports department ,footbal and rugby teams are very dedicated and they played 200 matches last year !well the whole package was superp!It is my first choice..

Well my question is as follow please:

We are catholic practicing anglo-latin american family my son goes to CATHOLIC PRIMARY.
We tick ALL the boxes on the catholicism section,but I have a doubt; will the school also judge on the boy's proximity to the school? I mean do we still need to be on catchment area?(Catchment wasnt mentioned on the HM speech)

We live n Muswell Hill so is around 2 miles on a straight line...

I would like to give my view on other school;
my second choice ,I am also applying for Fortismere although I dont believe they are so great AS it is portraited,just for the fact that the pupils dont wear uniform and no ofence but some girl wear outrages short skirts, many of them hang around our door(we live very close) DURING SCHOOL TIME smoking!This is my opnion I dont believe on a school that does'nt show discipline! I know someone that works there and she says is a complete Upper middle class competition .

I dont like the sounds of it!well i must apply as my husband liked the school and we moved here specificlly with this purpose..we've being living here since April.

Good luck Mums ,please I dont mean to generalize or ofend anyone.xx

[sonandmum]

Thanks for the above replies....NL3 i have checked with Barnet council and it is fine so long as you don't expect to use both addresses and the primary school have the address listed. However there are the odd schools (compton i think) who view the child benefit receiver as the main carer and the only address to use for applications.

With regards to catchment area, just as with most catholic schools they use their own criteria (priest reference etc which i have) and then if over prescribed they use the proximity point. Which hopefully should be okay as this school is the closest to my ex partners house. So fingers crossed!! Checked out Wren and we are 1/2 mile out of catchment area :(

Also looking at Camden schools with Hampstead, William Ellis and haverstock over the next few weeks.

[norflondoner]

FCH catchment is getting smaller and smaller. I think the boundary is around East Finchley nowadays.
Wren, Compton and others also have v small catchments. Best thing to do is see what schools your ex's address is in catchment for and if they are prefered to camden schools.

[NL3]

I don't think it's quite as simple as opting for one borough or the other. Barnet are usually quite prescriptive in their Admissions Booklet about things like this. They check the child's address with their primary school.

"Parents who live separately
When parents live separately, the application must be based on the address at which the child usually lives and from which s/he attends primary school. When parents live separately but the child lives equally with
both parents at different addresses, the child?s home address will be taken to be the address of the main parent/carer eligible to receive Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit"

It may be possible to get a place in FCH from Camden however because the catchment area isn't as small but it does depend on where you live in Camden.

[sonandmum]

Well, my son's father and i are not together and he lives in Barnet and some schools allow you to choose between the two addresses. Obviously i couldn't pick and choose between a few in Barnet and a few in Camden, it has to be all schools from one borough only (unless catholic).

[norflondoner]

If you are applying in October then you need to be resident in the catchment areas very soon. All of the schools mentioned above are good but if you wait for all the opendays it might be too late to move.
Do you have a practical backup option?

[sonandmum]

My son is now in year 6, so this month will be taken up visiting schools and then i will have to decide in October. Seriously cannot wait until this period is over as finding the whole school thing so stressful. I'm sure i'm going to be grey by the time he starts secondary lol!!

[norflondoner]

What year is your DS in? ie how long do you have to decide?

[sonandmum]

Thank you so much for the advice. I was extremely impressed with FCH results especially as they were above Mill Hill County etc and was surprised when it was compared with Hampstead School. Though i am now really concerned, considering the possible BTEC aspect of rising results etc. It's so difficult as I don't know any children attending the school, so have no parents there to discuss this with and literally know very little about the pupils attitude, behaviour etc :( I really like the look of Compton and Wren but have been advised that it's such a small catchment area, so extremely difficult to get into. AAAHHH the stress!!!

[NL3]

True - I was just astonished at the change in the performance figures and wondered why. I knew there was a new head and wondered was that the reason.

[norflondoner]

Its still a good school tho' and much better than many other boys schools in north london.