Mill Hill Senior School - any first hand experiences

[hondajazz]

Hello, I wonder if anyone would be willing to share their experience of Mill Hill School which we are considering for 13 plus entry for our 11 year old son. We have completed the admissions process and are awaiting the outcome. I’ve heard on a positive side that the students are happy and well rounded. I’ve also heard that if you’re clever but happy to coast in the non streamed subjects you can get lost in the system and will need a big push to get through GCSEs. So I would value any thoughts on both the academic and pastoral side. Ideally I’m looking for a school that offers both! Thank you all.

Do you have a good state school near you? If you do, I'd go with that tbh. We have a close friend with a child there that joined at 13. You can PM me if you want.

my DS is in year 9 at Mill Hill. We're very happy so far. He is academic and definitely being stretched well and i know his friends parents feel similarly. He says the year 9 joiners have settled well (he came from Belmont so already had many friends there) My other children are at Habs and i see very little difference in terms of teaching and opportunities except that there are some less academic DCs in the school, which i think is a good thing. slightly less pressure, equally good education, and probably more co-curricular to take advantage of.

Hello, thanks for the message. My son is bright but needs pushing without it stressing him out. He’s not one of these children who is really self motivated (he’s only 11, but some boys are…) - he works hard but when the day’s work is done, it’s done, if you know what I mean…

Hello! I was a former student at mill hill. Honestly i do not recommend the school :( as most of the teachers are inexperienced , and some have a bad attitude towards girls specifically! Mill hill won’t help you child to get into a top university as the school honestly couldn’t care less about their students. They do not offer any advises on universities. Also another downside: ( may not be relevant to you) almost everyone is racist towards international students there.

I find it sad that Mill Hill seems to have a lack lustre reputation. I can’t speak historically but I have a son there currently (on the recommendation of friends
with children there) and he’s doing very well. The teachers genuinely care and I have built relationships with them. Emails are always answered and the school has a wonderful atmosphere- the grounds are spectacular. Like in all schools I’m sure, you have to support your child and keep on top of them. I don’t think you can drop your child off at any school, and then do nothing and expect top results! You get out what you put in. We have been invested in and engaged with Mill Hill and no complaints at all so far!

I don’t know this school in particular but I hate this Parents mentality in England! This is Wrong! Independents schools are very expensive!. If you pay thousand of thousand of pounds to a school they MUST provide an excellence education and I do not accept that my son gets behind because I don’t follow him and I drop him at school. Yes I have to be confident when I drop him off he is followed all around! This is a bad system thinking that you join an independent school and at the same time find a great tutor! I think all the schools ranking in the UK are faulty because 80% of parents have this mentality! They push and push independently from the school and the schools get higher in the ranking!
They choose the right parents for them!

Why don’t you start your own thread for a rant instead of hijacking this one?

DS went to a very high achieving prep and a number of boys who got offers from stelar schools are going to MH.

Know a couple of families with kids at Mill Hill and while the kids are quite happy, none of the parents are delighted with the standards of teaching - it seems to pale in comparison to other North London independent schools. It does have a bit of a reputation as being a school for kids whose parents really want them to go private but didn’t get into the more competitive schools are grammars.

Obviously, results aren’t everything and not all kids are super-academic. But given the teaching isn’t brilliant, you have to ask if all that money is worth it for better facilities/lovely grounds etc. Personally I’d opt for a good state school over Mill Hill.

‘OR grammars’ , I meant!

I find a lot of the negative comments about Mill Hill school are rarely from parents of children there! What exactly are the issues with standards of teaching? Inexperienced or unmotivated teachers? When you say it seems to pale in comparison to other North London independent schools, what other schools are you comparing it to? If it’s Habs, Highgate etc then that would probably be a fair comment as it’s not trying to compete with those schools academically.

I've heard bad things from former alumni who went to the school years ago, BUT one of my daughter's closest friends is there now and she loves it and she's the sweetest most eloquent and polite teenager of all my daughter's friends 😃

So true! It's bizarre ....

@Greentree09 This is the reality of private schools I'm afraid. Same as state schools have to work to their own policies, private schools will be working to their contracts.

Well you must've been given a contract when they changed their minds. A contract you agreed to, otherwise their solicitors would've been wasting their time.
I'm not even a fan of Mill Hill, my daughter is currently giving revision materials created by her state school to her friend there as their provision is so bad. But that's not just a Mill Hill problem. It is school Vs school not state Vs independent. A good school can fail a child and it hurts more when it's a private as the idea is you're paying as you've chosen one that is supposedly going to be best for your child. You're not throwing them to the local comp and hoping for the best.
Saying that, I don't think it's fair when parents sign up for these schools that are businesses and expect to get treatment other than what's in the T&C's when things go wrong. Ultimately the goal is money regardless of charity status.

I know I won't live to see the day this happens but I cannot emphasise enough how it's not about state Vs private. It is school Vs school and when things go wrong in a private school, it's often at a spectacular scale with lots of upset and angry people and involvement of lawyers. The 2 most important things are involved. Money and peoples children. Unlike state schools, it is not a neutral ground you're starting on. I'm not saying state schools are perfect, again, school Vs school but not having the money element and state schools having to follow general DfE policies does help keep things neutral. I have had much much better experiences when things have gone wrong in a state school, in comparison to when things went bad for us in an independent.

Have you changed username? I'm confused

Wanted to ask what people's experience of behaviour and discipline at the school are. A friend of a friend tells me that it's now extremely strict and several year 10 kids are threatened with exclusion/not going into year 11 which seems harsh.

I don’t think it’s extremely strict. I think if anything it’s a good thing since the new head started that there are more sanctions such as lunchtime detentions for poor behaviour (chatting etc) in class.

The new head is definitely pushing them, which I think is good. And they have to pass a certain number of GCSE’s to get into 6th form. But isn’t that the same at all schools?

It was a shitshow before so hopefully he's actually doing what he was recruited for. He's come from a very no nonsense state school so they knew who they were recruiting and obviously wanted it to head in that direction.