Millfield School

[Schoolsearch2015]

We have just received an offer for our son to enter year 9 in Sept 2021. He is dyslexic and has slow processing speeds. We are trying to choose between Millfield School and Kings Bruton School. Obviously they couldn't be more different from each other. Our son is very sociable, and loves boarding. Millfield is obviously more of a full boarding school. Unfortunately Kings Bruton has smaller numbers of boarders and not many in on weekends. Millfield is big which puts me off a bit. Would be interested to hear reports on Millfield's learning support and how it is for individuals who do not excel in any specialist areas. One plus for Millfield is the vast number of extra curricular activities they offer (plus Golf - he's a decent golfer) and as he is not hugely academic, he may find other things that give him broader opportunities.

Chris Robshaw has always spoken highly of the support he received at Millfield,but unless sport was the major thing,ie above academics,i would think carefully about Millfield.,neiter of the schools are over academic but a child who wasnt academic and wasnt very good at one or more sports might find things easier at Bruton.

Might have helped if Id said Robshaw is dyslexic..

The question is, is everyone at Millfield good at sport? Surely not? Bruton is a "nice " school but not many boarders in on weekend and generally I think there are well under 10 boarders in each year 9 house. Maybe 7. My son is a pretty keen golfer - and would potentially be very good with the right focus and coaching. Our thinking is that Millfield is a big enough school that there will be a huge range of academic abilities.

If you want a full boarding school, choose a full boarding school.

As regards size, a school that seems enormous when your child is twelve or thirteen can seem much smaller by the time they're 15/16/17 - so think ahead. A sociable (gregarious) child might begin to feel cramped and bored if there are too few people to socialise with.

I certainly wouldnt want to be at millfield if I wasnt a keen sportsman,certainly the boys from my sons prep that went were all county standard+,dont know anybody that picks it for academics.I wouldnt want a son/daughter of mine going there unless they excelled at something

I believe there is a higher percentage of boarders at Kings than day pupils but maybe more weekly than full. My son is a flexi boarder and it suits us. It's a well established school with great support but Millfield definitely better for sports.

Hello,
I know some years on now but I was wondering what you ended up going for? I am currently looking at Millfield and Kings Bruton for a smart child but they have slow processing and dyslexia needs which is why they both are on my list because they are crested schools. DS isn't particularly sporty so I'm interested to know as you put above surely there are some none sporty people at Millfield? Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

We chose Kings and looking back over a previous post actually it has good sports overall.
My son had a great education and we loved that Bruton is not isolated. He did surprisingly well in his A levels and is now in his first year at university.
If you want to DM please do.