Millfield

For other uses, see Millfield (disambiguation).

Millfield

Motto	Molire Molendo
Established	1935
Type	Independent school Boarding school
Headmaster	Mr Craig Considine
Founder	Jack Meyer
Location	Butleigh Road Street Somerset BA16 0YD England
Students	1260
Gender	Mixed
Ages	13–18
Houses	(Girls' houses are in red; Boys' houses are in blue) Boarding Abbey Acacia Butleigh Etonhurst Holmcroft Joan's Kitchen Keen's Elm Kernick Kingweston Martins Millfield (6th form only) Orchards The Grange Portway (6th form only) St Anne's Shapwick Southfield Walton Warner Day Great Mill Overleigh The Lakes
Website	www.millfieldschool.com

Coordinates: 51°07′21″N 2°43′39″W / 51.1225°N 2.7275°W / 51.1225; -2.7275

Millfield is an independent school in Street in Somerset, in south-west England.

The school currently has a roll of 1,260 pupils, of whom 910 are boarders.^[1] The school's selection criteria are non-academic and the school offers a number of academic and sports scholarships, and bursaries; a charity, the Millfield Foundation, has been set up to raise funds to fund scholarships and bursaries - this is seen as being important to maintain "the Millfield mix" - an important part of the school's life and ethos, where pupils of all backgrounds benefit from being at school together - irrespective of their family's wealth or background.

• The school is a member of the G20 Schools Group.
• Millfield School has its own Preparatory school - Millfield Preparatory School at Edgarley Hall, situated in nearby Glastonbury, Somerset.

History

Millfield was founded in 1935 by RJO Meyer (always affectionately referred to at Millfield just as "Boss") in the mansion originally owned by the Clark family, who owned and ran the major shoe manufacturer Clarks.^[2] In 1939 the school became one of the first independent schools to be 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. In recent years, several new boarding houses have been built on the school campus, replacing those situated off-campus.

Students at the school are colloquially referred to as "Miffies".

Meyer's philosophy was, "...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."^[3]

In the school's early years, many boarders lived 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.

In 2005 the school was one of fifty independent schools which were found guilty of running a price-fixing cartel, exposed by The Times. ^[4] Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling £3 million into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared.^[5]

Sports

Millfield is know internationally as a sports school; its large purpose-built campus, houses a wide range of facilities. 130 staff sports coaches oversee the different sports on offer, including basketball, golf, hockey (indoor and outdoor), girls' athletics, fencing, modern pentathlon, triathlon, rugby union sevens, boys' and girls' squash, cricket, orienteering, and boys' and girls' tennis.

The sports facilities of the school include:

• 2 eighteen-hole golf courses and a driving range
• 2 multi-purpose sports halls
• 3 Olympic-quality water-based astroturfs
• A 50-metre indoor swimming pool
• A fencing salle
• A full-sized cricket pitch with practice facilities
• A judo dojo
• A large equestrian centre (including an indoor riding school)
• A large gym and a free weights room
• A running track, with track and field facilities
• An indoor tennis centre with numerous courts
• Large multi use playing fields for rugby and football pitches
• Many tennis courts, darts centres, squash and netball courts.

In November 2009, the school appointed Dr Graeme Maw, a sports scientist and strategist behind the world championship successes of the British Triathlon team, as its new Director of Sport; Dr Maw has many years' experience in sport in the USA, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Cricket ground

The only full County match on the school's cricket ground was held in 1961 when Somerset played Warwickshire.^[6] Somerset returned to the school ground in 1975, where they played Gloucestershire in a List-A match in the Benson and Hedges Cup. In 1977, Somerset played their second and final List-A match to date at the ground against Hampshire.^[7] The school ground has also held a number of Somerset Second XI matches in the Minor Counties Championship, Second XI Championship and Second XI Trophy, hosting 6 Second XI fixtures in total.^[8][9][10]

The pitch has a tree within its boundary.

2012 Olympic Games

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games has confirmed that Millfield appears in the official London 2012 Pre-Games Training Camp Guide.^[11] The Russian swimming team has confirmed that it will use the school as its swimming training base. ^[12]

Other facilities

• Art gallery
• Concert hall and recording suites
• Meyer theatre
• Squash courts

Headmasters

• 1935-1971 Jack 'Boss' Meyer
• 1971-1986 Colin Atkinson
• 1986-1990 Brian Gaskell
• 1990-1998 Christopher Martin
• 1998-2008 Peter Johnson
• 2008- Craig Considine

Notable alumni

Main article: Old Millfieldians

Former pupils of the school are known as Old Millfieldians or OMs.

Images

• 

  Millfield House

• 

  The new maths block

• 

  The school cricket ground and pavilion

• 

  The 50m Olympic Pool at Millfield

• 

  A map of the campus showing the facilities.

• 

  Boss Meyer's bust outside Millfield House

References

1. ^ School website
2. ^ "Millfield in its Infancy". Street Society. http://www1.streetsociety.org/millfield_history.php. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
3. ^ "Boss Meyer". Millfield School. http://www.millfieldschool.com/about/millfieldfoundation/development_foundation.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-09. 
4. ^ Halpin, Tony (2005-11-10). "Independent schools face huge fines over cartel to fix fees". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article588559.ece. Retrieved 2010-05-12. 
5. ^ "The Office of Fair Trading: OFT names further trustees as part of the independent schools settlement". Oft.gov.uk. http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2006/182-06. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
6. ^ "First-Class Matches played on Millfield School". Cricketarchive.com. 1961-07-29. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/768_f.html. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
7. ^ "List-A Matches played on Millfield School". Cricketarchive.com. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/768_a.html. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
8. ^ "Minor Counties Championship Matches played on Millfield School". Cricketarchive.com. 1984-08-26. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/768_minc.html. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
9. ^ "Second XI Championship Matches played on Millfield School". Cricketarchive.com. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/768_sec.html. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
10. ^ "Second XI Trophy Matches played on Millfield School". Cricketarchive.com. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/768_set.html. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
11. ^ Training Camps Website
12. ^ BBC News

External links

• Millfield School website
• Millfield Preparatory School website
• Millfield: A School For All Seasons - a history of the school by former pupils and masters
• Profile at the Good Schools Guide
• Millfield School at CricketArchive
• Millfield School at Cricinfo