Welcome

Morning, Finchley!

The heat is finally easing, and the school-shoe panic is beginning.

This week we round up where to kit the kids out locally, plus results day cheer, an immersive classroom over in Hendon, and free open-air music while the evenings are still long.

✏️📚 Back To School, Finchley Style

There is a particular week in August when every Finchley household has the same argument about shoe sizes, and this is it.

Barnet schools go back in the first days of September, so here is where to sort the kit without leaving the borough. Nearest first, and mostly cheaper than you fear.

1. Uniform4Kids, Temple Fortune

The official supplier for a long list of local schools, including Wren Academy Finchley, sits at 1103-1105 Finchley Road, NW11 0QB. Branded jumpers, polos and PE kit, the unbranded bits too, and staff who can tell you which grey trousers actually count as grey.

2. North London Hospice charity shops

Wren Academy has made the hospice shops its official second-hand uniform supplier, so outgrown blazers do a good turn on the way to their next owner. Take the pile in the loft with you.

3. Your own school office

Before you buy anything new, ask. Finchley Catholic High School runs a second-hand scheme straight from Reception, and Bishop Douglass families swap through Old School Uniform online. Most schools have a cupboard, and most of it is barely worn.

4. Clarks and John Lewis, Brent Cross

Ten minutes up the A41 for the bit you cannot fudge. Both measure properly, and John Lewis fits children's shoes for free. Go early on a weekday if you value your sanity, and take socks.

5. Any Barnet library

Not shopping, but the best preparation going. Read to the Beat, this year's Summer Reading Challenge, is still open to 4- to 12-year-olds. Six library books earn the medal, and it is a far better first-day story than a new pencil case.

Then buy the pencil case anyway. Some traditions are non-negotiable.✏️📚

Events

ARTS

Friday 28th August

​Whittington Health Staff Art Exhibition | Fri, Aug. 28 | Whittington Hospital, Level 1 Atrium, Magdala Avenue, N19 5NF | Free | Whittington Health NHS Trust launches its inaugural staff art exhibition, running from Friday 28 August to Friday 4 September. Painters, photographers, potters, weavers and printmakers from across the Trust show what they make when they are off shift.

COMMUNITY

Tuesday 18th August

​Fun Tuesday night QUIZ | Tue, Aug. 18 | 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm | Malt & Hops, 891 High Road, Finchley, N12 8QA | £3 per person | A friendly weekly quiz every Tuesday from 7.30pm at the lovely Malt & Hops. There are prizes for EVERY team, and first prize is a £50 bar tab.

Saturday 29th August

​Historic Highlights of Highgate Village tour | Sat, Aug. 29 | 11:00 am | Waterlow Park, Highgate Hill, N6 5HG | £21 | Explore the history and architecture of Highgate on a guided walking tour. Discover the area's famous residents, see the historic buildings up close and enjoy the long views back over the city.

MUSIC

Monday 17th August

​King's Cross Summer Sounds: free open-air music festival | Mon, Aug. 17 | 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm | Coal Drops Yard, Stable Street, N1C 4LW | Free | London's much-loved free music and performance festival is back for an 11th year, blending folk, jazz, soul, classical and indie rock with dance performances and local talent, all against the backdrop of Coal Drops Yard.

Sunday 23rd August

​Bandstand concert at Parliament Hill: Mad Dog Bites | Sun, Aug. 23 | 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm | Parliament Hill Bandstand, NW5 1QR | Free | Free Sunday afternoon music at the Parliament Hill Bandstand, organised by the City of London. This week it is rock, with Mad Dog Bites. Bring a rug and a cold drink.

​Summer Pop Up Proms | Sun, Aug. 23 | 4:00 pm | Waterlow Park, Highgate Hill, N6 5HE | Free | The six-strong Monoversals play blues, ska and reggae classics from the North Shelter in Waterlow Park, presented by the Park Friends. Free for everyone.

SPORTS AND WELLBEING

Thursday 20th August

​Pathway To Calm drop-in meditation | Thu, Aug. 20 | 6:15 pm to 7:15 pm | Zoom or St Mark's Church, 56 Potters Road, Barnet, EN5 5HY | £5 | A gentle drop-in for anyone feeling stressed, overwhelmed or depleted, or simply curious about mindfulness and unsure where to start. No long-term commitment, and a slower pace by design.

Friday 21st August

​Pilates with el Estudio | Fri, Aug. 21 | 5:30 pm | Visitor Pavilion, 145 Claremont Road, NW2 1FE | Free | Reset at the end of the week with a free 55-minute mat Pilates class led by instructors from el Estudio. Open to all abilities, with a focus on strength, flexibility, posture and general wellbeing.

Tuesday 25th August

​Hadley Rangers Football Tryouts | Tue, Aug. 25 | 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm | Barnet Lane, Whetstone, N20 8AZ | Free | Hadley Rangers Under 18s try-outs begin this month, with a second session on 1 September. Open to Years 12 and 13, and successful trialists are invited on a club tour in April 2027.

THEATRE AND FILM

Saturday 22nd August

​Propellers and Popcorn | Sat, Aug. 22 | 6:30 pm | RAF Museum London, Grahame Park Way, NW9 5LL | £20 | Outdoor cinema on the RAF Museum airfield. Saturday brings Top Gun (1986) and Sunday follows with Top Gun: Maverick (2022). Popcorn and a soft drink are included, and bringing your own chair is recommended

Events - Book Ahead

Saturday 12th September

​Our Yard at Clitterhouse Farm - Guided Tour | Sat, Sep. 12 | 10:00 am to 4:00 pm | Clitterhouse Playing Fields, Claremont Road, NW2 1AP | Free, booking advised | Visit this grassroots community enterprise where the historic farm buildings meet a crowdfunded cafe. Find out how the buildings were saved and brought back into community use, and hear what comes next. Part of Open House.

​Barnet Food Festival 2026 | Sat, Sep. 12 | RAF Museum London, Grahame Park Way, NW9 5LL | £10 | A weekend of flavours from around the world, live entertainment and a free Kids Zone, all set among the iconic aircraft at RAF Museum London.

Saturday 19th September

​The Little Children's Market London | Sat, Sep. 19 | 10:30 am to 12:00 pm | Enfield Grammar Upper School, EN2 6LN | £2.50 | Thousands of high quality preloved bargains for ages 0 to 11: toys, clothing, books, games, equipment and baby essentials, all under one roof and all at bargain prices.

Local Lowdown

Immersing

• One local classroom now travels to Ancient Egypt before lunch. Hendon Prep has opened a £400,000 immersive classroom on Tenterden Grove, wrapping lessons in interactive projection. Staff report better engagement and recall, and a STEM lab with 3D printers and a mini wind tunnel follows in September.

Achieving

• Results day nerves paid off across the borough. Barnet students beat the national averages again, with 98% of A-level entries graded A* to E and 40% at A* to A.

Scorching

• Tinder-dry grass has park managers on edge. The City of London has put Hampstead Heath on high alert during another amber heat warning, asking visitors to skip barbecues, bin cigarettes safely and stay out of the un-lifeguarded ponds. Carry water, find shade and enjoy it gently.

Squirrelling

• Four and five-year-olds get their own uniform this term. The 224 North London Air Scouts are launching Squirrels in East Finchley and Highgate this September, with space in Beavers and Cubs too. It is all volunteer-run, so Group Lead Derek Chambers would love to hear from parents.

Homing

• A quiet Edgware street is about to gain a family. A house on Holmstall Avenue can become a children's home for up to three young people aged 11 to 17. No signage, no clinical equipment, just three bedrooms, a games room and long-term care in an ordinary street.

Finchleyite: Mark King

Some people know a city. Mark King knows how to make you love one.

A Finchley resident for more than forty years, he was appointed MBE in the King's Birthday Honours this June for services to tourism.

He is a London Blue Badge and City of London Green Badge guide, a Fellow of both the Institute of Tourist Guiding and the British Guild of Tourist Guides, which he chaired from 2016 to 2018.

He wrote The Blue Badge Guide's London Quiz Book, sits on the council of the Friends of Kenwood, and his audio tours are on the guidl app.

He also leads walks on home ground, listing Finchley and Barnet among his specialist patches.

The nomination was led by his own trade, the Institute of Tourist Guiding.

He collects the medal at Windsor Castle on 27th October, which also happens to be his birthday.

Editors' Note - From Tessa

This week we have made it to beautiful Venice. It's been a lifetime goal of mine to visit Venice, and so far it's living up to expectations.

Gondolas, canals, and pizza. What more could you want?

Also, let us know about local events or local news. We curate our content to keep it a 5-minute read, so can't include everything we're sent.

​And email us with any projects or ideas you'd like us to write about.

Tessa Davis Sasha Frieze