To think that parents who are sending their DC to Private schools should not hang on to State school places until the last minute?

[DanceTimeInTexas]

Just met up with my sister whose DS has just been allocated a place at his first choice secondary school, which they are all really pleased about.

However, the Local Authority in question had to ring around several sets of parents whose DC didn't turn up to Induction days. These people seemingly had no intention of taking the state school places and didn't even bother informing the Local Authority or apologise to the school for wasting their time.

Meanwhile, my nephew has been to three Induction days at the school he WAS going to attend and my sister has bought (at great expense) and washed uniform she no longer needs (although you could argue that she was being a bit too organised and some people might not have bothered washing it, 'just in case', but still annoying all the same) so no chance of a refund. Also, he has missed the Induction days at the school he is now going to.

I know it's ultimately a happy ending for my nephew, but it still begs the question; why are some people such selfish twats so thoughtless and inconsiderate?

I am suprised that there would be so many people that blatantly do not decline their place though, I was very aware that the state school DS was accepted at was oversubscribed and personally knew some people on the waiting list.

I believe I had a genuine reason for keeping that space for the week or so after the allocations and do not need to justify that to anyone however keeping the place until September and just not letting anyone know is completely out of order!

I never applied for a state school place for my DD and was persistently chased by the LA asking why I had not returned the forms. So it works both ways.

On a separate note, why do people buy new uniform so early? In my experience DD never stops growing over the summer so I leave it as late as possible to purchase new kit.