to consider reporting this family for having lied to the school?

[mnbvcx445566]

Two parents and one child. They live nowhere near the primary state school they applied for and got into. I think - am pretty sure - they used a different address to the one they live at.
School very sought after. Shall I report them?

I've looked carefully into myself and this is what I think:

1- I am not jealous. If I had the chance to do the same I would not. I would like my child to go to a great state school so they are lucky for that but I would not play the way they did.

2- If I report them the child will have problems at school (? don't quite know what happens in those cases). The parents might have a breakdown or something having to face the backlash. Obviously they have brains and made their choice and would only pay the consequences of their actions but - I - would have precipitated the situation by reporting them. Maybe the system is so fucked anyway that what they did is not that big of a deal. Surely the school should have done 1000 checks before awarding places so there might be something I do not know. What I do know is that they live miles from that school, which has a very very small catchment area.

3- I should report them because if my child did not get into that school 'legally' I would despise people who took advantage of a loophole and took 'my child's place'.

WWYD?

I am a long-time poster/user but I have opened a different account as I do not want to be recognised. (If I do not want to face them and tell them that they are committing an illegal/immoral action does it mean that I am in the wrong thinking of calling the school anonymously?)

We had similar lucky

Catchment school was crap.
Nearest school Catholic school so no hope
Applied for otger local school which we didn't get as church goers above distance so people much further away for in through church and despite being ten min walk away and just outside catchment we didn't get in.

People every year before and after in the same neighbourhood got in.

I'm almost certain that if just 1 or 2 spots were fraudulently obtained that would have meant weneould have got in if they were caught out.

Instead I have to drive 4.5 miles to another school.

Ours have a booklet but I don't think it has the Last distance admitted on it. However a quick email to the LA asking which criteria they admitted up to and the distance of the last child admitted should get you an answer.

I hope you've all stuck to the rules in your life in every little thing, even when it's to the detriment of your own child.

I get you, but the detriment of whose child? The liars (to be proven) or a local family that couldn't get in (again hypothetical)

OP, I would actually just report it. As others have said if there’s no wrongdoing they will in the clear. If they have cheated their way in and their kid is thrown out it’s as a result of their parents’ dishonesty and not your doing.

Bluntness, there is a huge difference between having empathy for parents who wish to get their children into good schools and turning a blind eye to knowing that they have or have likely gained their places fraudulently.

We all understand that parents all want the best for their kids. However, this doesn't mean that any means are justified because this means others miss out.

There have to be rules and regulations for allocating school places. If we have those rules, they must be enforced,mor what is the point. Already there is inequality of opportunity. Being able to afford fees or houses in expensive areas gains access to better education. This is perfectly legal. However, beyond that the government seeks to allocate most places according to nearness to school. This is both sensible and allows children from a range of backgrounds to access many schools.

To say you empathise with people's desires for a good school and to bewilling to turn a blind eye, is to accept that people can trample across others and take their rightful places, just by determination and a lack of concern for the rights of other families. Surely you cannot really mean that.

And to value the admissions system which puts rules and regulations in place, to ensure transparency and fairness in allocations and to be willing to help support it (as councils ask us to) is not to be a curtain twitcher or hyacinth bouquet - it is to be someone who understands the purposes of the admissions policies and who is against fraud. It is to be someone who looks out for their own children, but also wider and recognises that schools are about communities and not just ones own children.

I am happy to say that some of my comments about those who are never willing to speak up against fraud, were probably inflammatory and not helpful. However, I remain aghast at the selfishness of individuals to only consider their own children and not the wider implications on other children of school admissions fraud, or of complicating supporting it by remaining quiet in the knowledge of such fraud.

I actually don't think it's about respect for authority here. I'm normally on the other side of the debates about uniform rules etc. To me this is about fairness though and therefore is different. I do get the fact that the punishment could be quite harsh though and I don't judge people who wouldn't report themselves- I do take issue with them giving the op such a hard time about it though.

I'm also fairly anti-authority, especially when it comes to stupid arbitrary rules. But the admissions rules are neither stupid nor arbitrary. The system is as fair and transparent as it can be. Defrauding the system is totally immoral and denies children the chance to go to their local school. The punishment is harsh because it involves restitution for the child defrauded of a place. If that feels difficult, well imagine what it has been like for the poor kid who as a result of the fraud was sent halfway across town to school away from all their friends, and the parent having to get them there!!!

I'm assuming it would have a knock on affect for many children.
All those who are bumped down waiting lists for kids who wouldn't necessarily need to be on it if said parent wasn't fraudulent.

A child who perhaps would have been first ends up third parents decide to move and end up nearer another schopl and pushing another kid down a list etc

I hope you've all stuck to the rules in your life in every little thing, even when it's to the detriment of your own child

I'm sure I've slipped up a number of times. But I don't remember committing fraud for my kids.

Have I committed a potentially imprisonable offence in order to secure an advantage for my child? Well let me see .

Nope, ive searched every nook and cranny of my conscience, but no criminal offences have come to mind.

Honestly, this is not some minor little bending of the rules, it is fraud. It's no better than forging a cheque because you fancy buying a new telly - worse in fact, as the victim is a child.

Please make the LA aware of your concerns. If you do, it can be looked in to. If you don't, it won't be.

DD1 missed out on a Reception place at the primary school I taught at, she attended nursery at and was only a few hundred metres from our home. She was allocated a place nearly 3 miles away (there are 20+ schools closer than this) which required two bus rides. There isn't a single childminder locally who takes children from our area to that school. It wouldn't have been possible to get DD to school and for both of us to get to our schools so we turned down the place. As it was before London authorities accepted a single application, we were able to apply to the borough DH teaches in and secured a place at the primary school opposite his secondary. She didn't actually go there in the end because we were given a place at a very local failing school instead - that's where she spent the first term of Reception.

By Christmas, it had come to light that a child due to start Reception in January at school A had gained a place there fraudulently. The place was removed and offered to the child at the top of the waiting list at school B (where I taught). This freed up a place at school B for my DD so we moved her after Christmas.

If someone had reported the parent sooner, two 4-yr-olds wouldn't have had to swap schools, and three classes wouldn't have been disrupted by comings and goings. DD is now 12 and hasn't suffered any ill effects but I found it hard to get to know the reception parents as I'd missed out on those early days.

Please report. If it's not fraudulent, it won't matter.

What a busy body. Why don't you just mind your own business?

This is her business..in fact it's everyone's business. Fraudulent stunts and school allocations have the potential to muck up alot of things for alot of people.

The sooner its reported the better.

What's the worst that can happen? Turns out to be nothing, family are nine the wiser and everyone goes about their lives.

But maybe just maybe some kid gets a place That is rightfully there's before their mum/dad quits work, sibling gets pulled out of a school they are happy at and newborn baby brother get a dragged on multiple buses a day.

Don't be so busy 🐝

I can't get my head round people saying report them and if the child gets removed it's not your fault, it's nothing to do with you. As if there is no consequence to your action. Most bizzare thought process ever. Of course it's because the parents lied to get their child a place, but pretending the ensuing investigation and removal is not directly because you reported is crazy.

I hope if she does report, it comes to light they have done nothing wrong and she's shamed by her actions, the school busy body reporting any kid out of catchment on the hope they will get removed.

No I don't ever want to be that person.

Or shes the person trying to ensure criteria are fairly applied, highlight any faults in the process and maybe save everyone including you from ending up on difficult situations as a result of some lying arsehole.

If there's nothing wrong there's nothing to worry about.

It could have been you

It could have been you dragging your kid across town waiting at bus stops for hours in the rain hoping to god some twat of a driver doesn't see the buggy and drive straight past you...

Must be nice to live somewhere where no one has to worry about school places akd ko ones lives turned upside down when despite living 200 metres from the gates they don't get in as someone's put down.the grandparents address...

HRFT but I think you need to mind your own business OP.

THINK OF THE CHILD WHO MISSED OUT

My Dd got a place after a child was ejected because the parents lied about their address.

My Dd had already started at another school. She had settled and made friends. Got to know where everywhere was.

We then got a phone call from our first choice school out of the blue. We had to replace the whole uniform costing over £150. My Dd had to make new friends and find her way around. After 3 years she is still seen as 'the new girl'.

Anyone saying not to report astounds me. Why should anyone get away with lying. The rules are there for everyone not the select few.

Or shes the person trying to ensure criteria are fairly applied, highlight any faults in the process and maybe save everyone including you from ending up on difficult situations as a result of some lying arsehole

God what an awful thing to write, this is someone who at worst lied to get their child a better education.

Exactly tiggy

Clearly people have no idea of just how difficult a journey to school can be. Not to mention how much it can cost you.

If someone lied then they are lucky all that happens is the child gets kicked out.

Im.sure if they ended up paying financially in some way to a situation they contributed to (extra rent or breakfast club or child minder or for the bus fares etc) maybe then they'd think twice.

Honestly, this is not some minor little bending of the rules, it is fraud. It's no better than forging a cheque because you fancy buying a new telly - worse in fact, as the victim is a child.

^
This.... Would I be a busy body for reporting an ongoing burglary, or a mugging where I could identify the perpetrator? This isn't a victimless crime... A society that minds its own business when it comes to fraud and other illegal activity is a broken one.

Is that all you think it is. Just a little white lie

No harm done.

Fuck me you have no idea do you