School admission - reporting parents

[doubletrouble9]

Hi
Anyone know how you would go about prompting the council to do an investigation into addresses on admission forms?
Some people say they had to produce evidence because a parent was suspected, the admission lady was very cagey about it as clearly they didn't want the hassle of an investigation.
thanks in advance

[poopsydaisy]

Sorry, not read all the thread, but if you genuinely suspect somebody of having diddled the system and has been offered a place over and above you missing you, then yes I think you do have a case for reporting them.

However, its tricky....you need proper proof, not just a hunch. Good luck, you must be in a mightily competitive area

[Ludways]

It's pretty pointless, by the time they investigate the child will be at the school and therefore very unlikely to be removed. The time to do it is before the placements are announced not after.

[prh47bridge]

the child will be at the school and therefore very unlikely to be removed

Not true. Every year a number of children lose their place after starting at school when it becomes clear their parents made a false or misleading application in order to get a place. It is not too late once placements have been announced.

I would agree that it is pointless in this case but that is because the OP has no real basis for suspecting a particular individual, just a vague hope that someone is lying. It is certainly not too late.

[doodledotmum]

I second that its not too late - happened last 2 years at our school. Parents suspected some one would lie (they were in the nursery, grandma round the corner, they loved 0.6 miles away). As soon as allocations were out people knew they must have cheated. They were reported and place with drawn

[Ludways]

It has never happened in my school district after the start of school.

What a terrible thing to happen to a child.

[doodledotmum]

Is it any more terrible than what happened to the child who lost a place and their nearest local school? People should stick to the rules in the first place. That's why they exist or it would be a free for all.

[Ludways]

I'm completely with you on it being a shitty thing to do, my ds almost missed out on his secondary school last year when someone had done this. One of his friends mother said she'd left her husband and was living with her parents. Her DM works with a good friend of mine and told her the full story of where the mother parked the car during the day and how she'd sneak about in case anyone was watching. I was bloody furious and amassed lots of evidence. I didn't go through with reporting them in the end and ds got in on the waiting list.

If the child been taken out of the school and my ds offered the place I'd have snatched their hands off, the fall out from her ds would've been her problem, she made the mess, she could deal with it. Harsh but if it's between my ds and someone else's then so be it.

Still awful for the child though.

[doodledotmum]

A very well made point

[PenguinsEatSpinach]

Very good points Tiggy. Including about people not advertising being kicked out. I know someone via a friend of a friend who got caught, but who told everyone that they had chosen to move school for X, Y Z reasons.

[Blu]

In a school near me two children were taken out midweek after their application had been found to be fraudulent.

[sherbetpips]

I chickened out of reporting a family who had bought a small run down house on the estate near the school (2 doors up from a friends house), they put a new door on and hung some curtains, then every day drove to the house parked up and walked the kids to school. They rent the place out now and it will serve its purpose again next year when they need to get the kids into the senior school. Apparently they didnt want to pay for private school anymore and decided a rental would get the kids into the best school and give an extra income, win.win.

[doodledotmum]

I don't get why people don't report these things. It means people will carry on doing it ?!??,

[jamtoast12]

I'd be inclined to speak to the head. This happened in our school 3 yrs ago.

We are out of catchment with a sibling but the school priorities catchment kids. However I know this school has a history of lots of applicants who lie. I also didn't have proof of a particular individual but it contacted the head, explained my concerns stating that the rumors were rife and that I was not going to let it rest, that I would find out eventually (esp as I had one in school anyway) and that it could get very messy afterwards.

Thus head personally (letter came from school not council) asked every parent for two proof of address dated within 2 months. Suddenly 3 applicants withdrew their forms! I was the last place awarded so would not have gotten my sibling in without doing it. The school has asked for proof every year since.

Also our Lea does not routinely check council tax at all and told me that personally unless they suspect something.

[clam]

But the HTs/schools themselves aren't involved with admissions. Surely the LA would have been the place to go to?

[jamtoast12]

I tried the lea. they didn't do anything, saying they needed to give an actual name. Our school is RC so the school does all the ranking according to their criteria so in effect they are involved as they list the catchment kids above the non catchment siblings. The lea distributed the places but the priority list was produced by the school.

I asked the school to do it and basically put it in writing that I'd be reporting them and lea to the admissions ombudsman for failing to ensure procedures were carried out accurately given siblings were being separated and the rumors (historically based on real cases) were rife that several were lying on their current application forms. At the end of the day, if I had discovered any parents afterwards, went to appeal, made a fuss with the local paper etc it's the school that has to deal with fall out so we're not overly happy to do it but realised they'd look pretty bad afterwards.

[doodledotmum]

I didn't know there was an admissions ombudsman. I think Jamtoast has a good approach. I do think there is a serious obligation to apply the rules and check if there is any suspicion of cheating.

[NK2b1f2]

This is something I would not be able to let go, so I like Jamtoast's approach. OP did you say it was a religious school? In that case I would do as Jamtoast did and threaten to kick up a stink if the head teacher does not take it further.
Our application only stated that the council 'may' ask for proof of address. That's rubbish - either check or don't check.

[doodledotmum]

I think they should be forced to check for every over subscribed school. And recent proof to stop people applying then moving !

[TheDoctrineOfSnatch]

Doodle if people live in the right house on the qualifying date then it doesn't matter if they move after that.

[Floggingmolly]

How could you possibly have reason to believe one person is lying, but you don't know which one??
I don't fancy your chances in having the entire intake investigated by the LA on that basis alone...