SCHOOL ADMISSIONS- anyone given a FALSE ADDRESS and prepared to ADMIT it ??

[noonar]

ok, here's my dilemma: i have 2 dds aged nearly 3 and 5. one is at a fab school, the other due to start in sept 08. the trouble is, we want to move house, as we currently live on a v busy street, are are keen to be somewhere quieter.

we have our hearts set on a semi rural location, 15 mins drive from the school. this would mean that dd2 would not get into her sister's school, as we'd be outside the 2 mile radius for 'sibling links'.

we don't want the dds to go to the village school, as dd1's current school is outstanding, esp as far as multicultural ed is concerned. also, dd1 is happy there, and we'd only be moving a short drive away.

it seems crazy that we'd have to lie in order for dd2 to attend the same school.

my SIL and mum live in the catchment area for dd1's school. IF we think about putting their address on dd2's form, what day to day problems are we likely to encounter, as far as keeping up the pretence goes?

any advice from anyone brave enough to share their exp of this kind of situation?

i realize that this is a controversial subject (so please dont all jump on me!) but i really do think that our case is quite exceptional. after all, my main objective is to keep dd1 at her school, NOT to get her into a school at which she is not entitled to a place.

also, different neighbouring village which we are interested in, which has a good school, has no places for dd1, so getting them both into the same school, even 'legitimately' is proving nearly impossible for us, atm.

apologies to anyone who's had enough of me and my house moving saga!

tia

ok, i dont think i could cope with the stress of lying, tbh. youre probably right all of you. i could stay here, but we've been in the same house for 14 years and i'm just bored, actually. i had this idea that the girls might have a better quality of life, growing up in a village.

liz, it is a slightly different scenario to the one i posted about before. in that particular village school, the waiting list for dd1 is so long, she may not get a place even by yr3. she wouldve had to commute back to her current school, until the juniors, when she wouldve had to leave.

it was this crazy situation that made me think, hang on, why dont i try to find a different village, closer to her current school, and keep her there. great idea that was.....not.

i am not one to lie habitually. trust me.

pollyanna, you probaly know more than most about the pressures of trying to get all your children into the same school, however legitimate your case. it seems to me that you have to decide where you want to spend the next 10 years of your life before your eldest child starts school. otherwise, you're stuffed.

Can you not move to your first choice of village, put dd2 in that school and dd1 on the waiting list ? My ds1 and 2 are at a popular village school but there has been quite a number of children leaving in years 1 and 2 for different reasons. If you lived in the catchment and had a younger sibling there already surely you would be first choice for the place ?

liz, the trouble is, its a church school, so people with an affiliation with the church come first. so we could be on the list for ages and still not get a place. there are currently at least 4 on the list in dd1's year group.

if dd1 didnt get in by yr 3, we'd be allocated ANOTHER school for her, miles away.

bit of a gamble, eh?

Ours is a church school too - but it is still parish, then siblings, then church. You could try and campaign to get them the change the rules. I know someone who has done this because she felt they were just unfair and inconsistent between the different local schools. She has had some sucess, but she still finds it very stressful at each childs admission.
I would think you have grounds if it was one school had a catchment rule for siblings and another says church before siblings and catchment. Do the 4 on the list for dd1 live in the parish and attended the church or just attended the church?
Also do you actually have a written copy of the schools addmission policy ? It might not actually be what people are telling you - I can imagine people here saying that church attendance gets priority when it is actually pretty low down.

yes Noonar I wish we had moved here before ds started school. Mine will be in 2 different schools from Sept

It is a very difficult situation. You could start going to church? or get a much cheaper house and send the dds to the school where my ds goes?

Noonar it does sound a difficult situation.

TBH I wouldn't lie as, as you say the issue will come up again when you have to apply to juniors (this is quite common btw, any place there are separate infant and junior schools).

I would appeal based on the 2-mile rule which seems harsh. Tho then you still will probably not get DD1 into the juniors, will you?

Is there no chance of spaces appeaing at any of yr more favoured village schools? If you are moving in, someone else may move out...

Pollyanna - how will you manage to be at 2 schools at once tho ? Is that not good grounds for appeal ?

hi all. liz, church attendanace is priority 2, after 'looked after' children. i have seen it in writing. it def comes before sibling link. its bonkers, i know.

we are considereing moving anyway, going to church and praying that place comes up by yr 3, when they take 4 additional pupils.