Millias school Horsham - honest views please

[Mum2777777777777]

I'm moving into the area and would like to know people's thoughts of the girls school Millias, particularly from current attendees parents.

TIA

Hi there, we’re thinking of moving to this area for our daughter (hoping to get her into Millias). Did you manage to get your daughter into the school? Would you mind sharing your experiences? Many thanks

My DDs are now 22 and 20, so I'm a bit out of date. Current parents may come on and add more relevant views, but here are my thoughts to get you going:

1. Girls at Millais have, on average, very high aspirations and very good behaviour
2. Like in any comprehensive, this will be much more the case for top sets than middle or bottom ones. My average-achieving and well-above-average-achieving DDs had very different experiences at the school. Any school is what you make of it, though, so it might have been more about personality than what set they were in.
3. Lots of very committed and inspiring teachers. Some great teachers and leaders left when new head came in (now about 5 years in post) so would be good to hear from current parents if they were replaced by equally great ones. I have no reason to think they weren't.
4. Horsham has recently gone from a town with 3 secondaries, 1 mixed, 1 boys, 1 girls, to a town with 4 secondaries, 3 mixed, 1 girls. That will probably make it easier for girls to get into mixed schools that they are happy with. So I would expect a shift towards Millais students coming from a wider catchment, and from a narrower spectrum of families as it'll be people actively choosing single-sex education. No idea what the implication of that would be, but at the least, probably a more geographically scattered friendship group.
5. Teenage girls can be bitchy. In any school. But a mixed school often neutralises things and provides other distractions (!) so my feeling is the bitchiness is amplified somewhat at an all-girls school. Millais has, to my knowledge, always been extremely supportive of issues they know about, but obviously they don't get involved in the day-to-day grind of navigating difficulties with friends.

menotastic

Thank you so much for your insight. We are looking to move areas to give us a wider set of options for secondary. My eldest will definitely need support academically, we currently pay for a private tutor and her primary provides her with additional support. She will never be top sets! But we’d love a nurturing environment. I’m worried Millais will not provide this but we are quite keen on a girls school.

I really appreciate your response.