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Is there any way the place could be withdrawn?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originally applied, and surely if our application was reassessed we’d be top of the waiting list even if our place was withdrawn?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.

[bemusedmoose]

You got a place based on an address further away, the fact you are now closer makes no difference.

She can appeal but that's it.

[Mum2b43]

My son went to a small primary, only 28 in year six. He was the only one out of the 28 that didn’t get into the local high school. We are in catchment but they ran out of spaces before they got to our street.

I was devastated, so was my son. He cried, I cried, I begged the school, the admissions board and even appealed it. They put him on a waiting list but no places came up. I lost a lot of friends because as soon as they realised my son was no longer part of the group their kids cut my son off, he lost friends he had since reception, been to every party, sleep overs, football games, these 28 kids did everything for 7 years and suddenly he wasn’t part of the group.

So I can see where this woman is coming from. She is devastated. She is frustrated and she believes it is all very unfair. Her child is upset, she is upset and there is nothing she can do.

I am not condoning her behaviour but I understand her frustration and pain.

My son is in year 8 now and settled in well and has a lovely new group of friends. I am sure this woman will get over it once she realises her child will be just fine

[KarmaViolet]

Mum2b43 that sounds very stressful for you and your son, but I think these kids are moving from nursery - reception, not Y6-Y7.

[ittakes2]

You don't need to worry - your rental was a valid address and if you kept the council up to date with your moves than that is all the council will want to know. Your first post was a bit confusing - it read like you were in a rental at the time of application but put a house you owned on the application. But you cleared that up in subsequent posts.

[BaconMassive]

I've worked in admissions at various local authorities and you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Everything you did was fine and the other person has no right to appeal against someone's place whatsoever.

It's also against GDPR.

[waitingforthenextseason]

@MiddleParking

Fuck having sympathy for her when she’d see your child kicked out of their rightful place to make way for hers who didn’t get in on the criteria. Cow.

Yep

[Hazel444]

I don't get why you are worried unless I've misunderstood - you got a place at the school at one address and have subsequently moved even closer to the school, so how can anyone think you are trying to cheat the system?

[Brokenpencilsarepointless]

@Toomuchtrouble4me

If you’ve done nothing wrong then why are you so anxious about it?
Nothing wrong with renting near the school, you don’t HAVE to own a property to get into the school!
But you sound a bit ‘guilty’ by the way you’re panicking to me.

If I were in her position, my anxious feelings wouldn't just be about being reported. It would also be about the prospect of my kids being in the same school as her kids after the way she has behaved. Having someone come after you maliciously when you've dont nothing wrong is stressful. Doesnt make you guilty. It makes you feel crap, anxious and upset. When you feel that way, it's easy to worry. The OP has given her full circumstances very clearly and she really has done nothing wrong.

I remember working an event at my job when I was in uni, and money went missing. I knew I didnt take it and was actually working in a position which made it impossible for me to take it, but I was still scared I was going to get blamed as I was the part time, newest staff memeber. Didnt make me guilty. Just made me anxious.

[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

[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.

[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.

[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

[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!

[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.

[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!

[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.

[RevolvingPivot]

Have the daily mail posted this yet?

[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.

[Cipot]

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

[riceuten]

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

[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.

[ufucoffee]

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

[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.

[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.

[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.