Millfield

History

Millfield was founded in 1935 by Jack Meyer (referred to at Millfield as "Boss") in the house originally owned by the Clark family, who owned and ran the shoe manufacturer Clarks, following his return from India with seven Indian boys, six of whom were princes. Meyer, educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College, adhered to the philanthropic aim "...to nurture talent by providing the very best facilities, teaching, coaching and opportunities in which young people can exercise and explore their abilities; and to give awards to those in financial need."

In 1939, the school became one of the first independent schools to become co-educational. Over the years, the school acquired land and houses around the locale, and a result there were many boarding houses within a 10-mile (16-kilometre) radius of the original site; this resulted in boarders living at houses or billets in the outlying villages — being bussed in and out for lessons and meals. Over recent years, many of these houses have been sold and the proceeds invested in new on-campus boarding houses. There are currently three country boarding houses occupied by male pupils.

Location

The Millfield campus is based over 240 acres in Somerset, in Street, in the South West of England.

Houses

Millfield is predominantly a full boarding school with around 75% of its pupils as boarders. The house system is based on gender and status as a day pupil or boarder. With the introduction of 'Nine at Millfield' in 2014, year 9 is now treated as a transitional year with 'Year 9 only' day and boarding houses. All other houses are Year 10-Upper Sixth boarders and two are exclusively for Sixth Formers. The boarding houses are supervised by house parents and assisted by assistant house parents, tutors, and matrons. Each house generally has around 40-50 pupils.

There are fourteen boys' and nine girls' houses; the oldest house is Millfield House, which is the original building the school first began operating in. The house opened when the school was established in 1935 and is now one of Year 9 boarding houses.

The houses have kitchens, common rooms and spaces for prep work. Houses are equipped with Wi-Fi networks.

¹ "Senior" denotes Year 9 to Upper Sixth (Year 13); "Sixth Form" denotes Lower and Upper Sixth only.

Sports

Millfield produced international and Olympic athletes; its campus houses a wide range of sports facilities. 130 staff sports coaches oversee the 28 different sports on offer, including athletics, badminton, basketball, chess, clay shooting, cricket, cross country, dance, equestrian, fencing, football, golf, hockey, karate, modern pentathlon, netball, outdoor activities, rowing, rugby, ski racing, squash, swimming, tennis and trampolining.

Olympic Games

Millfield has been represented at every Olympic Games since 1956. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Millfield was the most represented British school. At Rio in 2016, eight Millfieldians took part and won a total of four medals in rowing, swimming and rugby sevens.

Millfield appeared in the official London 2012 Pre-Games Training Camp Guide. The Russian swimming team used the school as its training base before the London Olympics, and the Great Britain modern pentathlon squad also used the schools facilities in preparation for the games.

Facilities

Millfield offers academic, sporting and co-curricular facilities, including:

Headmasters

1. 1935-1971 Jack 'Boss' Meyer
2. 1971-1986 Colin Atkinson
3. 1986-1990 Brian Gaskell
4. 1990-1998 Christopher Martin
5. 1998-2008 Peter Johnson
6. 2008- Craig Considine

Notable alumni

Former pupils of the school are known as Old Millfieldians or OMs. Alumni become life members of the Society when they leave the school. The principle aim of the Society is to keep members of the worldwide Millfield family in touch with each other.