Page 15 - Millfield GSG Brochure 2021

WHAT THE GOOD
SCHOOLS GUIDE SAYS

ETHOS AND HERITAGE
For one of the UK’s most successful
boarding schools, Millfield is really quite
a new kid on the block. It was founded in
1935 by Jack Meyer, a former civil servant
and accomplished cricketer, following his
return to the UK with seven Indian boys,
six of them princes. It was originally
based in Millfield House (now a boarding
house), which was rented from the
nearby Clark family of shoe fame.
Innovation was the name of the game
from then on. Co-ed from 1939, the
school put as much emphasis on
excellence and opportunity in sport and
the arts as on academic success. In 1942,
Martin Attlee, son of deputy prime
minister Clem Attlee, joined the school in
the hope of overcoming ‘word-blindness’.
The Millfield method proved so
successful that Martin Attlee progressed
to university and the school gained fame
as the first in the country to deal
successfully with dyslexic students.

The feel and look of the place is fresh and
contemporary – no hallowed portals
here. Instead, buildings of all materials,
types and function are scattered across
the huge site. It’s more akin to a small
university campus. A culture of
entrepreneurship still prevails – a new
sixth former received encouragement and
plaudits for setting up his own charity
club to raise funds for less fortunate
youngsters. No overwhelming sense of
entitlement, privilege or history among
the students either. Those we spoke to
expressed in forthright terms their good
fortune at being there.