Using childcare as reason for out of catchment

[Ellis989]

I think I know the answer to this but checking.

I provide as hoc childcare for my sister as I am a SAHM and have the time at the moment to help her out. We are in the catchment for an oversubscribed primary school which two of my children already attend. My nephew is due to start school next September along with my youngest.
DSis lives less than a mile away but out of catchment for the school. She reckons DN will get in because she will write on the application that I will be doing pick-ups and drop offs for him along with my own children. This isn't going to be the case, regularly, but she is going to put it on the application to secure his place.

Is this likely to have any sway?!

Quite honestly, for various reasons, I am feeling quite taken advantage of and this has really annoyed me as it's just another thing. There is another really good primary school 200m from her house, if that makes a difference. She just wants all the cousins to be together and I know if DN gets in I'll be helping her out all the time.

None. At all.

Not in the slightest

Zero influence.

this is the issue with having a "reasons for application" box on application forms! Nothing anyone writes in there is taken into consideration unless it has a direct bearing on changing the category your child falls into. Childcare reasons are irrelevant.

Childcare preferences are totally irrelevant- it's all about where you live.....

She will either
a) get a place as she lives close enough
B) not a place as she lives too far away.

Cousins attending have no bearing.

It will make no difference whatsoever to the success or failure of her application.

Not a chance. What was the furthest admitted last year, might she be near enough?

It won't be relevant. Make sure she doesn't try to use your address! Also I think you need to be clear that you can only do certain days. What happens if her child is ill & you have plans? Will she expect you to step in & cover? You are potentially stuck with 7 years of this. Also your child might make different friends & get invited to things & if you have her child too it's always going to involve them.

Also you may decide to go back to work. Presumably she gets paid to work and you don't 🤷🏻‍♀️

no it won't make a difference.. however just let her sit with it.. She won't thank you for sharing the knowledge.

I would just encourage her to put 200m away school second to ensure he gets a good school

No difference

If this was possible then Child Minders would make £££ for living in catchment of most popular schools

She's clutching at straws.

The problem is that if she does get in because the school is able to offer places out of catchment this year (obviously I have no idea how oversubscribed the school is and so how likely she is to get in but it doesn't sound impossible if she is only a mile away) then she will be telling other people that she got in due to putting childcare down as the reason, further spreading rumours that things like this make a difference. It's the same as the people who claim they got in because they only listed one school so they had to give it to them/listed the same school for all of their options, etc.

She intends for you to go to every pick up and drop off, it's not about the 'cousins being together' at all.

Not at all.

But if you receive any information about his application, then make sure you send it straight back to the council saying that he doesn't live there, don't believe anything she says about it being "an accident".

Now's also possibly a good time to start dropping in about looking for a job, and loving the time afterschool with just your children

None at all.

Cohabiting siblings get sibling priority if that is laid out in the entrance criteria. But it's all based on where the prospective pupil lives, not where their cousins do.

Factors such as childcare or school transport are irrelevant, unless they are part of an exceptional medical/social need issue (maybe mobility issues?) and evidence from professionals will need to be presented in support of any application in these catgories (which, unfortunately, not all schools have)

Ahh thank you all for clearing this up. Sorry for delayed response, dealing with chicken poxy child!

I'll be returning to work when youngest starts but just due to nature of our jobs me and DH will be more available for pickup and drop off than she will. Plus she's just quite lazy and I know it will get into a pattern of 'can you pick up DN while you're getting the others?' Getting 3 kids from 3 classes is enough work though tbh without adding in a fourth.

She may get in on distance, just. Other kids come from her street and further but it has narrowed in recent couple of cohorts for some reason. I suppose it completely depends on who else applies.

I just felt peeved that she was going to use me as a reason to get an advantage particularly when I am not planning on or wanting to be any help with the school run and because she has been particularly difficult in other ways recently and I'm feeling quite taken advantage of.

That has answered my question though so thank you. To the pp that said if she gets in anyway she will make other people think you can do the same - I think this is true. She said to me that one of the kids on her road got in because the mum put the grandparents address down because they do childcare! I'm really doubtful anyone would get away with that and think they were just lucky on the distance that year.

The only thing that determines any priority is the oversubscription criteria in the Admissions policy, (and special consideration, if in the policy, which is a high threshold and requires medical or professional evidence at the point of application)

You would not believe some of the reasons I have been given by applications wanting a place over the years!

Be very wary in case she uses your address on the entry form.

Every year leading up to October rumours fly around about what sways applications for school places. This school is 'an unofficial feeder' for that school - you get first choice if you come from Mars etc

The places are allocated against the admission criteria then if there are any left over some schools do distance as the crow flies but not all of them.

Your sister is taking quite a gamble with this especially if she's eschewing a really good school on her doorstep.

Though I think your aibu is actually 'aibu to worry if fb gets a place at x school I will be stuck with the school run for him all the time?' In which case yanbu!

She isn't taking a gamble as long as she also lists somewhere on her form the good school near her house, as you don't get priority by putting a school first. It is a gamble if she only lists the school she wants for childcare reasons though. I would also be wary about her putting your address down OP, as others have said.

It won't influence the allocation of places at all. The school admissions are not even the slightest bit interested in child care/pick up arrangements.

Hopefully your sister is also putting the school near her on the application form as one of her options.

I've noticed some people finding any reason at all to put on these boxes. She is one of them.