Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Boarding school

Connect with fellow parents of boarding school students on our supportive forum. Share experiences, tips, and insights.

Learning support at Millfield

5 replies

tachetastic · 28/07/2023 08:59

Does anybody have experience of the academic support available at Millfield for students who are academically weak?

DS is currently entering Year 5 at a prep in Somerset. He is super sporty but in all honesty he struggles in many of his academic subjects. His reports consistently say that he is active and engaged in lessons, asking questions and responding to the teacher's questions, but he finds it difficult to get ideas down on paper and so consistently performs poorly in standardised tests. He is not dyslexic and has no identified learning difficulties.

Mumsnetters on another thread I started suggested we consider Millfield as an option. I had looked at Millfield before, but dismissed it because (a) DS is one of the super-sporty ones at his prep, and I worry that he will struggle to define himself if everybody else is super-sporty too; (b) the size of the school is immense and I fear weaker students may get lost; and (c) DS himself says that he considers Millfield a school of "show offs" and does not want to go there (this is likely to be because Millfield Prep always win at matches, and I am sure his mind could be changed).

All that said, I understand that in addition to the stellar sports reputation, Millfield is also renowned for its support for students with additional needs and so perhaps we should take another look. DS does not have an EHCP or any specific needs, but I wondered if this would also translate into being good at supporting students that just need extra help or perhaps innovative ways to enable them to express themselves on paper.

Does anybody have positive or negative experience of Millfield, in particular with respect to how the school identified and supported students with additional academic needs?

Thanks a lot in advance.

OP posts:
Seashor · 30/07/2023 14:25

I’d look at Kingsley in Bideford. Very sporty school including surfing and it offers learning support. Really good personal experience of this school. My child did brilliantly.

tachetastic · 30/07/2023 22:14

Seashor · 30/07/2023 14:25

I’d look at Kingsley in Bideford. Very sporty school including surfing and it offers learning support. Really good personal experience of this school. My child did brilliantly.

I know Kingsley and it is a really good school, so thanks a lot for the suggestion. At the moment though really holding out for comments on Millfield.........😁

OP posts:
erint09 · 31/07/2023 20:10

Have you looked at King's Hall? It offers many of the same things Millfield does but without the well-known 'posh' reputation that Millfield has.

In my personal opinion (having a child who was previously at Millfield who moved to King's Hall), Millfield is a great school for sports. I would say definitely top 10 in the country. However, my child felt that she wasn't being challenged enough in matches as Millfield were significantly better than all the other schools they played.

On the academic side, Millfield is average. The education is slightly better than state school, but it is very clear that the school focus on sporting and drama etc. My child isn't dyslexic either (and did still struggle) and we found that Millfield provided a little extra help, but not much more than the expected minimum.

Hope this helps.

tachetastic · 31/07/2023 22:28

erint09 · 31/07/2023 20:10

Have you looked at King's Hall? It offers many of the same things Millfield does but without the well-known 'posh' reputation that Millfield has.

In my personal opinion (having a child who was previously at Millfield who moved to King's Hall), Millfield is a great school for sports. I would say definitely top 10 in the country. However, my child felt that she wasn't being challenged enough in matches as Millfield were significantly better than all the other schools they played.

On the academic side, Millfield is average. The education is slightly better than state school, but it is very clear that the school focus on sporting and drama etc. My child isn't dyslexic either (and did still struggle) and we found that Millfield provided a little extra help, but not much more than the expected minimum.

Hope this helps.

Hi @erint09 thanks a lot for your reply. The comment on the academic side of Millfield is really useful. To be honest, from things I have heard from other parents I did not expect amazing things in general, though I had hoped that the support for children with additional needs would have been stronger as I know that is something the school is renowned for.

One question though is I see that your comparison is between Millfield and King's Hall, which in Taunton at least is a prep school. I don't know if that makes a difference. I am looking at Millfield as a potential senior school. We are happy with our current prep.

I also struggle a little bit with your comment that your DD was not challenged enough in matches as Millfield was so strong. Presumably that means that she was being challenged in lessons/training which led to her team being so strong? I am not disagreeing with you remotely. I am just trying to understand the comment.

Unless you mean there are benefits in being beaten occassionally, which I would actually fully agree with. It is rubbish to lose all the time. It is also harmful to win all the time. We celebrate when we win. We learn when we lose.

OP posts:
erint09 · 31/07/2023 22:36

@tachetastic

King's Hall (Soon to be renamed King's College Prepatory School) is the junior school to King's College Taunton (which starts at year 9).

Yes you're right about the matches, in which DD would have benefited from being beaten in some matches.

Yes, she was properly challenged (10+ hours a week in the curriculum) in sport including Saturday sport commitments.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page