Disgruntled parent accusing us of fraud

[PMP3]

Hi

Thanks for reading this, I’m totally stressed out.

There’s a parent who’s very upset her DC3 didn’t get into the same school as her DC1+2 (out of catchment, where admissions favours in catchment before siblings out of catchment). She’s basically tried to pick holes in everyone else’s applications as she things she’s number 1 priority in the waiting list. She’s targeted and reported, we think, several people challenging various points as fraud such as time spent at each parents not being correctly disclosed and a few for temporary addresses.

We fall under the temporary address group she’s targeting. We moved into our previous rented property in October 2020, having sold our old house (about 10 miles across the city). We had been buying, but the purchase side of our chain collapsed and as we knew we needed to leave our old home to be living in the area we wanted to settle (where I grew up) we still sold and moved into rented accommodation. We immediately started looking to buy again and had an offer accepted on a house closer to the school. We thought this would be exchanged by the cutoff date for applications but it wasn’t, so our old address was used for the school application. We got into the local school and since then have completed and moved in to the new house, closer to the school.

It didn’t cross my mind that we could be seen as doing anything wrong here, circumstances dictated we had to rent and with buying closer to the school I didn’t even consider this as an issue. I have kept the admissions authority up to date with our move already.

Is there any way the place could be withdrawn? We’ve moved closer so would be higher priority to when we originally applied, and surely if our application was reassessed we’d be top of the waiting list even if our place was withdrawn?

Sorry for the wall of text, this has just really stressed me out in an already stressful year.

[DingDongThongs]

@tigerlilly22

This has happened at my children's school when one of the Mums actually knocked at another parents house and physically threatened them. Every man for himself I say, so long as the truth is being told.

Really? Rough area? I'd have laughed my head off...

[DingDongThongs]

OP if you lived at the rented address WHEN you applied that was your correct legal address. The rent/ownership is not an issue in admissions. If you had sold your home and lived there then that was your home at time of application.

If she's accusing you of fraud I would take legal action - this is defamation of character and you could sue for 20K plus. How dare she!

As PP how does she know your private data?

[itsgettingwierd]

Lots of people rent temporarily whilst they move house.

As your rented house and purchased house are both within catchment it cannot be considered temporary rental for fraudulent purposes.

Especially if new house makes you closer!

[Hertsgirl10]

Ooh I’m pretty new here I wasn’t sure on the strict rules 🙃

[Dustyhedge]

You’ve done nothing wrong. I wish our school would change it to catchment over siblings. Had a really tricky few years where some catchment children didn’t get it at the expense of out of area siblings which went down pretty badly.

[Pemba]

TFT = The Full Thread. As in RTFT - Read the Full Thread (or is it Read the F**king Thread?). Before putting in your comment.

[Hertsgirl10]

I don’t know what TFT is.

[Zzelda]

@Hertsgirl10

I don’t know if anyone had a said this but how does she know all of your business to be telling everyone?

Don’t worry about it, she sounds very manic and entitled. She can always appeal.

Try reading TFT?

[NeverDropYourMoonCup]

@Twatterati

There's a very simple way for her to resolve this, which isn't widely known. She needs to remove the child without a place from any school and electively home-educate them for at least 7-8 weeks and then apply for a place at her chosen school.

They are obliged to accept any home-schooled child who has been out of the school system for at least 7 weeks.

This fact isn't advertised by the LEAs for obvious reasons (it's open to abuse). The majority of people eventually accept that they don't have their first choice of school and either appeal and/or give up and get on with the second/third choice of school.

However, what I've detailed above is possible and I've done it with my own child. LEAs have a legal obligation to find - or create - a school place for a previously home-schooled child, even if the school of choice is over-subscribed.

That's not quite correct. The LEA has a legal obligation to find a school place somewhere. Otherwise, the most desirable schools would have to fit 1500 Year 7s in buildings and staffing levels designed for 80/120/whatever whilst the undersubscribed school across town would have empty classrooms. Which obviously will not work - children at the very least need a teacher and a chair.

If a place comes up at the desirable school, whether due to families moving, going into the private sector or succeeding at appeal at another school they wanted more, that place gets allocated to the child sitting at #1 on the waiting list. And you do not get bumped to #1 by refusing any school place offered/home educating.

If anybody was thinking on the basis of the above post 'That's what I needed to hear, I'm just going to withdraw my Yr 7 from education and then say I've changed my mind and that'll force them to put him/her where I want' - DON'T. It doesn't work like that. Appeal, go on the waiting list, send them to the place they have got at another school. You can always transfer if they get offered a place at a later date. If being the operative word - as there could be 458 other parents who have also appealed/gone onto the waiting list who have higher priority.

[RockingMyFiftiesNot]

@GreyStairs

Some people clearly can’t read!
You’ve done nothing wrong and we’re given a place based on rental, and if you had moved into your permanent home before rental you would also have been given a place!
The school are probably rolling their eyes as she reports each parent and sadly as she’s crying wolf so many times they might actually miss someone who has cheated the system.

Our local primary was so sought after that it wasn't unknown for out of catchment parents to take a rental property for a few months to secure a place then 'move' out of the area. Cheaper than sending children private at the end of the day, especially as siblings tended to be given places. That school did do random checks and there were children removed from the school in reception.
Makes life difficult for people like the OP who have a genuine reason to be renting.

[Hertsgirl10]

I don’t know if anyone had a said this but how does she know all of your business to be telling everyone?

Don’t worry about it, she sounds very manic and entitled. She can always appeal.

[ufucoffee]

If you have already told the LA exactly where you were living when and nothing has happened, you have nothing to worry about.

[GreyStairs]

Some people clearly can’t read!
You’ve done nothing wrong and we’re given a place based on rental, and if you had moved into your permanent home before rental you would also have been given a place!
The school are probably rolling their eyes as she reports each parent and sadly as she’s crying wolf so many times they might actually miss someone who has cheated the system.

[riceuten]

To be brutally honest, most academies/MATs/LAs lack the resources and will to investigate possibly fraudulent applications.

[Cipot]

I can't see that you did anything wrong. Let her complain.

[pollymere]

Ignore her. The LA are used to all this. If you've kept them in the loop, then there is nothing to report. It's amazing how schools can find places when they're needed. I hope you get your places sorted soon.

[RevolvingPivot]

Have the daily mail posted this yet?

[anditmakesmesmile]

The good old British education system - it’s all about the three Ps. We either pay, pray or p**s off to another part of the country to get the education we want for our children. So flawed.

[HolmeH]

Out of catch is a risk you take. I’m well aware I’m not guaranteed to get my DD’s younger sibling into our out of catch school in three years time..

Our first choice school didn’t admit a single out of catch sibling this year, despite usually admitting all the way to out of catch (no sibling & far further away than out house) every year for the last 6 years. I was really surprised we didn’t get in on the day but I've since looked at the data & they admitted 19 catch siblings & 11 catchment. I know the deputy head & she said they’ve never seen so many siblings in any local school in recent times!

[Peregrina]

- if you are allocated a non catchment school, and only if you put down your catchment school but were unsuccessful, siblings will count as in catchment for that allocated school.

That's something different though by the sound of it. That sounds as though the non catchment school was the one offered, whereas this woman appears to have chosen to send her children to a non catchment school in preference to the catchment one and luckily enough got the older ones in.

[Mum2b43]

Oops missed that, thought it was a high school application. Being reception, she is probably digging her own grave as she will end up on a waiting list and her child might end up getting a space eventually... she would have alienated all future parents of child’s potential friends!

[RockingMyFiftiesNot]

If your application is legitimate, you have nothing to worry about. Schools will be used to this sort of behaviour from disgruntled parents.
If you have tried to pull a fast one, you will have been caught out.
Hope all sorts itself out soon

[tigerlilly22]

This has happened at my children's school when one of the Mums actually knocked at another parents house and physically threatened them. Every man for himself I say, so long as the truth is being told.

[sue69m]

Confront and tell the parent that her bullying tactics will get her nowhere. Yes, everyone understands her frustration but you have done nothing wrong and don't need the stress on top of renting.

[TopBlogger]

@PferdeMerde

Are you actually the snooper and you’ve somehow managed to find all the parents addresses and want to know if you can claim some as fraudulent to the school?

Have we been reading the same posts from the OP? Do you REALLY think if this was a reverse then the OP would go into so much depth?

Miss Marple you aint