Thomas Mills High School is a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

with academy status as well as a sixth form in

Framlingham Framlingham is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4, ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, England. The current Headteacher is Philip J Hurst.

History

The history of the school dates back to the beginning of the 18th century, when local merchant and

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

philanthropist Thomas Mills stipulated within his

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

that money from his estate be used to "further the education of the children in Framlingham", and as such the Trustees of Mills' estate eventually established the first Mills School in 1751 on Brook Lane, Framlingham. The School was able to survive for one hundred and fifty years, during that time moving from Brook Lane to Double Street within the town. The School was then combined for several years, starting in 1878, with the Hitcham School in Framlingham, before becoming separate once again in the form of the Mills Grammar School at the turn of the century. The Hitcham School continuing also, eventually becoming the modern Sir Robert Hitcham Primary School in the town. Opening in 1902 as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

for girls aged 8–16 with a starting total of only twenty five pupils, Mills Grammar School grew over the course of the 20th century, eventually submitting to local authority control in 1921, changing its age provision to 11–18 in 1945 and finally admitting boys to attend the school in the mid-Seventies. By this time the traditional model of Grammar, Modern and Technical schools had fallen out of favour and local councils were encouraged to form all-admitting comprehensive schools for the purpose of

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

. As a result of this Mills Grammar School was merged with Framlingham Modern School, established in 1937, beginning in 1976 under the supervision of latter's Headmaster, Michael Brown. Brown became the first Headmaster of the newly formed Thomas Mills High School opening in 1979, which exists on the site of the old Modern School utilising the already existing buildings and facilities, many of which continues to be used today along with many more modern additions. The original charitable trust established by Mills in his will continues to this day in the form of the Mills Charity, which has maintained a relationship with the school and has regularly been involved and contributed financially to projects within it.
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Notable alumni

Naomi Watts Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 September 1968) is a British actress. After her family moved to Australia, she made her film debut there in the drama '' For Love Alone'' (1986) and then appeared in three television series, '' Hey Dad..!'' (1990), '' ...

, actress *

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

, singer-songwriter *

Tom McRae Jeremy Thomas McRae Blackall (born 19 March 1969), better known by his stage name Tom McRae, is an English singer-songwriter. Career The son of two Church of England vicars, McRae sang in the church choir and as a teen experimented with his m ...

, singer-songwriter *

Josh Webster Josh Webster (born 6 February 1994 in Chelmsford) is a British auto racing driver. Career 2013 saw Josh drive in the GP3 Series where he finished the season in 28th place scoring no points, with his best finish a pair of 16th places at his h ...

, racing driver

References

Bibliography

Thomasmills.suffolk.sch.ukMillscharity.co.uk

External links

Thomas Mills High School
{{authority control Academies in Suffolk Secondary schools in Suffolk Framlingham Educational institutions established in 1751 1751 establishments in England

History

Notable alumni

See also

References

Bibliography

External links