Millfield School

[TessaA]

Hi - we are in the Bahamas and looking at moving to the UK for schools. Can anyone give me any first hand feedback on Millfield - especially the dyslexics department. My son is about 2 years behind in his reading ... very sporty so wanted to avoid a specialist school if possible! My other son is academic. The boys are coming from a very small International school (200 students), so I’m worried that this may be too bigger change! Are class sizes small, easy to make friends? They’d be day pupils? Would they feel left out? Is gymnastics a strong sports? How easy is it to get scholarships? Thank you ... as much advise as possible is much appreciated!! Also... any desirable areas to live in the area is also very helpful... 😄

Answered some stuff in your other thread, but just seen your more specific questions...
Learning support is very good, but you will need to ensure your DC engaged with it and makes an effort. My own DC had private tuition before millfield to improve reading, so only had to deal with processing speeds, so I can’t comment specifically on reading skills issues. What I can confirm is that everything is ipad-based for all children, and school is very hot in making sure teachers fully aware of AEN and very accommodating in terms of making sure each child gets what they need (but the child needs to be motivated too - some stuff happens in lunch time)
School is totally meritocratic - if you are from a famous family or royal, the kids give not a shit; they will like you and make friends if you are likeable. Sports help a lot as their is instant bonding there. Found it friendlier than schools my other DC attended. Class sizes are tiny - maybe 12-14 in each lesson / shrinking in size for each year. 6-8 by sixth form even for popular subjects. They are extremely ability-driven in terms of putting people into sets. So make sure you quiz the head of AEN (lovely lady, forget her name) about this if you have a very smart child whose dyslexia affects their performance; my dyslexic child was supported in top sets but might be because the dyslexia wasn’t an issue for them because of the extent of iPad use.
(As a complete aside, Shiplake is a great school for dyslexic sporty boys, boarding only; might be worth considering as an alternative)
Millfield operates a ‘top 100’ program for the most academic kids; extra meetings, visits to Oxbridge, whole department to advise on and support uni admissions (including full time member of staff who does nothing but get kids sports scholarships in the USA). The ‘settings’ by ability in all subjects means the kids are always working at same level in class, be it in the top set or the bottom set. Some kids go to oxbridge with 4 As, some take BTecs, all seemed happy: horses for courses.
Day pupils don’t seem to integrate that well, to be honest, but don’t seem to mind. It’s just a different experience. Difficult to explain really.. what’s odd about the school is that the size means that there isn’t a ‘cool gang’ to belong to. Each child will have a group of ‘sports mates’, a group of ‘house mates’ a group of ‘classroom mates’ and a group of ‘hobby mates’. There’s groups may overlap but often won’t. The ‘house mates’ group tends to be where the very strongest friendships are made, and my DC felt that day pupils might miss out on developing such strong links. Not sure if that’s actually the case or not. Have you thought about having them start as day pupils whilst they settle in, and then board?
Gymnastics? No idea, but they are leading school in most sports so imagine they have an excellent coaching team.
Scholarships are tough I imagine, but I don’t know for certain how picture is at this point in time; most come for sport so not unusual to be at ‘county’ level by the time you arrive, my DC was eligible in senior years, but was very academic and had been ‘scouted’ by then. If you have a sporty child who is also clever I think that would appeal more to them than just sporty.
Desirable areas? Umm. Lots of very cute villages but I imagine you’d want to base yourself to the south west of millfield so that you are closer to Cornwall? No idea on that count I’m afraid.
FWIW when I switched my DC to millfield, the head of the (well-known) school that I switched from (who desperately wanted to keep DC) said “I really wish I could argue for them to stay here; but I can’t. It’s the one school in the country that i can’t fight against” - and sport had nothing to do with that comment (the context of the discussion was more about the resources and ethos of the school).
Sorry if I sound too evangelical: but with my dyslexic child I’d had such a hard time for years fighting for them against a system that wanted round pegs only for the round holes, that seeing my child thrive and become so happy and do so well made me a bit fanatical. There areas others on the MN boards who feel differently about millfield and who has different experiences; hopefully they will turn up and give you some negatives to think about.