Christ's College is a secondary school with academy status in East Finchley, London, United Kingdom. It falls under the London Borough of Barnet Local Education Authority for admissions. Since September 2018, Christ’s College Finchley has offered outstanding education to both girls and boys joining Year 7. The school presently has 860 pupils and specialises in Maths and Sciences. Motto and badge The school badge since 1906 has been a combination of the three notched swords of the traditional county of Middlesex and a finch over an oak tree, the old unofficial arms of the Urban District of Finchley. The motto, since March 1976, is Usque Proficiens meaning "advance all the way". When Christ's College Finchley (CCF) was a grammar school, before it was merged with the lower achieving comprehensive, the badge for Christ's College Finchley only had the letters CCF. It was not until after the merger in the 1970s that the current badge was designed and the motto made up. 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 Alder School Finchley Hall School, founded by Rev Thomas Reader White in 1857, later 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.