AIBU to consider reporting a possibly false school catchment address?

[Annoymo]

I just found out a boy in DS’s class is going to a certain school that I know has an extremely strict catchment policy. I have a feeling they gave the in-laws address as the in-laws live near the catchment. We actually live close to this school than this boy so I’m really surprised they got a place. There is no SEN or sibling reason they got priority.

Morally I feel this is really bad of them but then I’m thinking why get involved. What would you do? How would you even report this?

Also if you have this much energy for reporting people and right/wrong, why not do some actual good and volunteer in your community or as a community police officer?

You don’t even know the exact reasons behind this child getting a place but seem to be putting a lot of thought into the situation that could be better spent actually helping people rather than trying to knock them down

Are you happy with your own kid's school place? If so, just let this lie for your own sake. First you risk a really uncomfortable exchange with the authorities if you're basing it on a 'feeling'. Second, grassing someone up is not actually a nice feeling unless they are doing something morally indefensible and I'm not sure fiddling the school catchment area counts. If you disagree with me on that moral point you wont mind causing a little kid distress for the sake of it though so you decide.

I have to say all the people saying "she worked hard for her 20 properties I admire her" are baking me reconsider this stance a bit 😁

How on earth do you know any of this? You just sound nosy and jealous. These people are strangers. Just get on with your own life. It's none of your business where other people live or go to school.

🎉🎉🎉

I’d report it.

If you’re right, then they’ve stolen a place from another child who should have had it, and there’s still time to correct the problem.

If you’re wrong and there’s a priority reason that you don’t know about then the authorities will check, conclude there’s no problem and the family won’t even be aware of the check.

keep your nose out of other peoples business!

you’d seriously want to uproot and disrupt this child after nearly a full year at school.

busy body aren’t you

I mean surely it’s up to the parents to manage this and keep it in proportion 😕 “don’t be silly it’s not about being good enough it’s just an administrative issue” sort of thing.

Thanks for the parenting tip.

Of course anxiety is cured by telling a child tbey are being silly.

Why on earth would you report this though it's none of your business.
Maybe they are moving near the inlaws, why do you care so much?
I'd stay out of it.

I can’t abide any kind of cheating and would be tempted to report it. If there is a genuine reason then all well and good but it sounds like this might not be the case here. The more people let this kind of thing slip and feel they are wrong to report it, the more people will get away with it.

I say report. Yes it's possible the child has the place legitimately (do you 100% know the child isn't adopted? Do you 100% know there are nor SEN given that some are invisible?) But if they have the place legitimately then your report won't change anything. If they lied then they stole the place from anpther child who is more entitled to it and that shouldn't be tolerated. Places are allocated on fair criteria and a parent who feels so passionately that their child deserves a better school is not a fair criteria - every parent who wanted their child to go there and didn't get a place loves their own child just as much and doesn't deserve to have their child sent down the waiting list a step because one parent lies.

🙄

If you’re wrong and there’s a priority reason that you don’t know about then the authorities will check, conclude there’s no problem and the family won’t even be aware of the check.
Of course the family will be aware of the check. It’s an investigation that will take place and they will have to provide prove of address. Sometimes home visits are conducted.

I agree..pay for private school if you don't want the local school and have multiple properties.

Op, if your son has a place then I wouldn't report, know they are dishonest and just move on. If you were affected it would be fair to report.

i mean on a more general level. You speak like this is a common reaction that any child experiences in not getting a school place. It’s not.

You 'have a feeling' do you? But no facts, seemingly.

As others have said, it is much more likely there is a reason that you are not aware of- if they are indeed even going to this school, who knows if the info is even reliable.

If there are 120 places and this parent's lie means that the child who should have got place 120 gets knocked down to 121 on the list and doesn't get a place, the lie is no measure at all of whether the liars "wanted the place more" than the people who told the truth and were legitimately entitled to a place. They didn't need to lie or cheat. There is no admissions criterion fir "how low will you go to stomp on other children to advantage your child?" But if there was, the other parents who live closer to the school should have a fair crack to demonstrate that they are just as passionate about the school as the cheating liar is.

Not necessarily- the LA will check the criteria, if they have got in on priority criteria, this will be clear and the LA will do nothing else. The only way the LA will notify the family is if they believe the address is not where the family actually live.

Keep your nose out.

This sort of scam is as old as time. Leave it.

@Pleasealexa Op, if your son has a place then I wouldn't report, know they are dishonest and just move on. If you were affected it would be fair to report.

That's a weird attitude. If players A B C & D are playing a game and C spots B doinf something that is cheating but only disadvantages A & D but not C, should C keep quiet because they aren't affected?

Cheats shouldn't prosper and sometimes the people who are directly disadvantaged by the cheats are not in a position to find out about the cheating. We are all part of one culture and everyone who stands up to cheating and lying is building a more positive future.

Yes, and it's a good lesson for their children as well. Lie and cheat to get what you want and to hell with everyone else.

Exactly.
If the LA already know that there are legitimate reasons for the child having the place they will ignore the report. If they agree it's suspicious they'll investigate. If they find nothing untoward nothing will happen. The OP doesn't have the power to get the child thrown out on a whim!
But you only have to read threads on here on offer days to know how upsetting it is for families who don't get their preferred school. Sometimes it's their own fault because they have made unrealistic applications, sometimes it is just bad luck in very oversubscribed places, but a small proportion will be down to fraud and that is preventable. I wonder how the "I'm alright Jack" posters would feel if it was their child who was having to attend a school miles away from all the other kids in their neighbourhood and they later discovered that other parents suspected fraud but had ignored it? If we all only acted on wrong doing when it directly affected us we'd have anarchy.
I've been arrested as a suspect in a serious crime in the past - something a great deal worse than school place fraud - but here I am, not in jail at all, because guess what, it wasn't me. Total mistaken identity. It was a deeply unpleasant and frightening experience, I cannot deny that, but I would rather be wrongly suspected and investigated than live in a world where everyone looks the other way when they see or suspect harm occuring to others. And there are victims of school admissions fraud.

Not necessarily- the LA will check the criteria, if they have got in on priority criteria, this will be clear and the LA will do nothing else. The only way the LA will notify the family is if they believe the address is not where the family actually live.

That is not the only way.
Sometimes records aren't always updated quickly., eg council tax.This happened about 6 years i think it was ( just before covid).to a family I worked with through children's services. Without going into the ins and outs the family had done nothing wrong but they had a full investigation because someone thought they didn't belong there.
In an ideal world the system would have shown there was no issue, the school would have been aware of the family history etc but sometimes thi gs go wrong.

The family felt ( quite rightly imp) targeted. There was reasons the family had moved to that location that people ( parents of other children) wasn't and shouldn't be privy to.

Who says the child will even know? My children will always know I put them first, not the opinions of judgmental strangers who are nothing to do with our family. I care more about my child’s future.