Millfield school's reputation? Is it fit for this ds?

[Immenselygrateful]

Hullo helpful ladies,

What do you know about Millfield school? Do you think it would be 'ok' for us?
DS is a bright (10 yr old) boy but who needs some pushing to do his work, both homework and (esp) class work. He is currently overseas ( in Uganda) but the social climber in me wants to send him to your land for senior school. We have considered a number of schools but Milfield was the only one where no written test is required for overseas applicants ( according to the good school's guide) and this sounded like music to my ears ( esp coz I am unable to afford tutors and DIY tutoring would be too difficult). Anyway, I have got a glimpse of the reputations of some of the other schools from the threads here but not for Milfield. Would you pliz let me know what you think of it? I am most afraid of drugs, bulling and lack of adequate pastoral care! My DS is also the dreamy type, and I read that at this sch, the dim end stretches on and on. Won't he be left to his dreams and hence become dim?
I am meeting the registrar next week when he visits Kenya but I need to have some view of the sch beyond what the website and the good schools guide say...I guess!

Thanks for any and every response.

Yes, I know wincoll's reputation...and for it, I am willing to fly in a tutor for months if that is what it takes.
The 'will not pass an entry test' thing should have been followed by 'without a tutor'. The truth is that this boy is really capable. I am sure he can pass a test..with some ( ok, a lot of) tutoring. I am also considering bringing him to a good prep in the uk for this.
Like I said, a mum has gotta try. There is no penalty for that, right?

Hi do PM me I'm in and out all day but will try and reply by the end if the day.
HG

I'm a little worried if he is neither academic, sporty or arty...where do his interests lie? Most kids at independent schools are good/very good at at least one discipline and thrive on being part of a team (whether sporty or arty). These schools fill the kids day (especially if they are boarding) with endless activities and if you don't participate fully in what's on offer...it could be a long term time till the holidays!!
My DD is a day pupil at 75%boarding school and I don't get her home till 7.30 most nights...it'll be 9 next year when she hits senior school. That's because it's sport/drama/dancing/etc etc etc as after school activities. In fact the head made a speech to them recently that 'if he wasn't frequently handing them out certificates etc at assemblies then they weren't trying hard enough to find other strings to their bows. They were not just at school to learn the academic subjects but to become a rounded person'!!
As to Millfield. The only kids I know that have gone there have been exceptionally (I'd expect to see them make the Olympics in years to come) good at their chosen sport.

Immensely I would n't worry about tutoring for the Winchester pretest but ring up the Registrar to discuss his case, interests (does n't need to be extracurricular) and suitable house registration. I certainly think from what you say about your DS that Winchester is much better suited than Millfield!
If you can afford it consider prep school before the pretest but let your DS decide as he would find boarding hard initially from the sound of it so he would have to want to try.

Your posts are very confusing. At the start it seems you are saying he is lazy, maybe average academically, not talented in extra-curricular areas and you want, for these reasons, a school with no entrance exam.

Then you say you are registering for Winchester which has one of the toughest entrance exams in the country, is known for choosing incredibly studious, self-motivated boys who are also quirky and talented.

Unless we understand which it is that you want it is impossible to make recommendations!

Agree, hadn't appreciated you were considering flying a tutor over! Would a year or two at a prep school be cheaper than British school + tutor? I'd suggest you visit a variety of schools in UK and meet staff, I do still think you may find a lesser name more appropriate and inclusive.

Have you considered any of the schools further north or in fact Scotland? Very nurturing, full boarding and great air travel links. All the scottish prep schools have overseas kids with great links to schools like Glenalmond, and Fettes (Edinburgh).
I agree with others that you really should consider a good prep school to feed into a senior school. I would think a smaller prep, full boarding, would be better for your DS than a very competitive one. British private education is superb but it does extend across the whole of the UK!

Just spotted this. My DS is at Taunton school. It might be an idea for you to have a look at it. They have a separate international section which is initially off the main campus and where children from overseas are placed until they are felt to be able to comfortably cope in the main Prep School and the senior school has similar.

As someone said they don't do entrance tests as such but they do assessments to see what level a child is at.

Active boarding section and Saturday school.

My DS is not sporty nor arty nor musical and he is doing ok. He doesn't currently take as much part in the extra curricular stuff as we would like but we are hoping he will do more in senior school next year.

At a local rugby tournament, boys from Eton, Reigate college, wimbledon college, whitgift etc had the pleasure of competing against Millfield boys. In the changing rooms the Millfield boys threw 20 pence pieces at the whitgift boys taunting them with "you're from Croydon, you can keep it, you need it more than us."
Hth.

Tuppeny I'm sure many can recount these kind of stories and it's inevitable that there will be some thoroughly unpleasant characters in all schools. We have a friend with four who were at or are at Milfield I don't know much about it but her children don't come across as ghastly arrogant braying hooray Henrys'. It's inevitable that the vast majority of parents at Milfield are going to be exceedingly wealthy because of the nature of the size of schools fees, but money doesn't buy you good manners or make you a decent person.

I know some Millfield survivors who are lovely but I would never send my kids there.
That delightful episode happened about 4 weeks ago.
Fortunately the other schools rallied together to give those little shites a piece of their mind. As it were.

The problem about Millfield is that when such situations happen the senior management don't seem to be bothered. You will always get abnoxious, spoilt, rich kids, but Millfield doesn't seem to do anything to prevent such attitudes or behaviour. We has seen terrible examples of sheer rudeness and arrogance during our years at the school. But nothing ever seems to be done about such incidents or such pupils. Both my offspring had friends from all 'levels/classes' who were all extremely nice/pleasant/normal no matter what the family bank balance looked like (for want of a better expression!). They distinctly kept away from the arrogant students. The trouble is that Millfield seems to not only find such behaviour acceptable, but those arrogant students always seem to rise to the top at Millfield. Makes your own off-spring start to wonder why the 'nice guys' always get over looked. Your story about those Millfield rugby players does not surprise me in the slightest.

It makes you wonder why they're so bloody unhappy and empty inside if they have to behave that way.
Also to be singling out whitgift was weird. Imagine what they thought of the host school Wimbledon college (state). Perhaps the fact they were talented enough to be competing at the same level as a school with state of the art facilities irked them. Who knows.
Apparently the sport teachers were all disgusted and Millfield is being contacted about it with the possibility of them being excluded from future events.
Make you think.

A friend who has children at another school told us that at one recent-ish rugby match the biased referree-ing by the Millfield referee was appalling. The other school's star player was sent off for 'something'! Then there was suddenly 'extra time' that miraculously was for the exact length of time it took for Millfield to score some extra points till they had come level with or beaten the other school. The other school's team, teachers and parents were totally appalled. At a local 5km running race last year one local lad (also a Millfield student) genuinely led the whole race from start to finish running right behind the lead car. Then just before the long straight run into the finish line a group of stupid Millfield students decided to 'join in' the race from sitting on the nearby grassy bank and they surrounded the lead runner and jostled and pushed him all the way to the finish line. Teachers were everywhere but did nothing about it. The lad who had lead the race actually crossed the finish line in about 5th place. He was so angry that he went straight to the race ref to complain - but in the meantime the so-called 'winner' from Millfield had taken the trophy and the glory! Luckily the lead car was able to say who had led the race all the way round and who the rightful winner was - the race organiser's then went and grabbed the trophy off the cheat. Millfield was supposed to be getting a letter of apology to the race organiser's and the actual real winner - no letter was ever received by the actual winner - as usual Millfield did not think it important enough to make such cheats answerable for their stupid and annoying actions. So many missed lessons by Millfield senior management who allow their students to act appallingly. I very much doubt Millfield will do anything about the recent incident of throwing 20p pieces. After all their term ends today - they have the whole summer holidays to now sit on the letter if one is sent - by the time Sept comes along Millfield will arrogantly assume it has all blown over. Typical 'head in the sand ' behaviour by Millfield senior management.

So they're teaching great sport but no sportsmanship
What a shame.

Some of the sports they supposedly 'excel' in they don't even 'teach' or 'coach'. It is a travesty watching talented kids just slipping through the net and losing interest and motivation as they are constantly ignored. The sign of a good 'coach' is to look after and coach that athlete when the going gets tough - not just when the times and achievments and goals are being scored. In some of the sports that Millfield is well known for, the so-called 'coaches' are only there for the good times. Any old coach can 'coach' when the good results are coming in thick and fast. One swimmer went from about 97% attendance to zero attendance in about a 10 day period as he had huge problems with school/grades/girlfriend/university offers etc and the Millfield Coach never even batted an eye lid that this senior swimmer had totally disappeared from poolside and from early morning and after school practice. Never contacted the parents to even ask if everything was ok! No duty of care or even remote level of interest. Whereas the student's tutor was on the ball and in constant contact with the parents so both parties could guide, help, support the student through this tough time. Swimming coach had no interest at all. That is not 'coaching' by any stretch of the imagination.

Ooh CiderWithBuda my DS too - but much older than yours. Perhaps we've passed on the drive at drop off! We could have a sort of MumsNet masonic wave. Then again.....

that kind of teasing happens at every school
brother told a tale of leaving forks in teh changing room at rival school because they ate like pigs

Hi mateysmum! Perhaps we have. We have only been at the school for three years although DH is an OT. Is yours still there?

ciderwithBuda Yes he's still there but well up in the senior school. Off on CCF camp this week.

DS starting senior school in Sept.

Did you go to the ball last night?

No Cider not really my thing.

Just on the subject of Kingswood, Bath, there are a reasonable number of boarders there, the school day is organised to accommodate the boarders and they are building a new boarding house.

My son plays Millfield at sport and is never that impressed with them either.

Sorry for a 2 year late reply!
I just wanted to give everyone som advice on this topic. Well not advice... But more like fact with integrated advice.
I went to millfield prep, I was there ages 8-12. I was bullied, received poor teacher/pupil support and it completely ruined my self esteem. I used to make up stories for attention and then when I revealed what had happened to me one evening in the school, no one believed me. My parents lived 2 1/2 hours away so I assumed they wouldn't want to be bothered as they sent me so far away in the first place.
If you truely want to experience the wducation provided by a private school, go for it! But move there. Pick your children up at the end of the day, ask them how their day was, encourage them and love them.
Personally I really can't understand why you would want to do that to your child! I know we are all so concerned about intellectual development but seems like we disregard emotional development which is fundamental and if ruined, cannot be fixed or regained. Children change their minds frequently and find their direction while doing heir GCSEs, then they're technically and safely old enough to be separated from parents for weeks on end. Especially if they have a very big profound love, ability or passion/skill. But even then... Wouldn't that be the first of your priorities and you would want to move close to the school to provide that for them.
I'll never get over being bullied by posh snobs and getting nothing out of it. All that money my parents invested in the school.
They are too concerned about etiquette, intellectual intelligence and professionalism that the school become dehumanising to boarding pupils.