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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

What would you do? A mum has put a false address on her schools application to the over subscribed primary that we've applied to.

86 replies

Flibbertyjibbet · 18/02/2009 17:00

A mum I know is being pretty open about the fact that she has put a false address on her schools application form and applied for the same two schools as us even though she actually lives 2 miles further away.

Its a relatives house that she used to rent and the relative is letting her use the address still for the schools application. Its closer to the the first choice school than we are. so just on distance her child (then sibling next yr) would get priority over my child this year and his brother next year.

She currently rents a much bigger house 2 miles away where the schools are just as good. We however are in a 2 bed house for our honest application!

She wants her child (and then sibling next year) to go to the school where she will know all the parents as she lived in this area for a long time.

Not sure what to do, cos even if my child gets a place, there will be someone else more eligible on distance, that gets blocked if her child gets in.

I was quite easy about which school my boy gets in out of our two choices, but hearing her on Sunday made me come over wierd and want to push her child out of the way so mine can get in our first choice school before hers!

Should I do anything? Would you alert the authorities? Turn a blind eye? Wait to see if her child gets in but my child doesn't? Do nothing either way?

We get our letters about places in about 3 weeks.

Our admissions booklet dedicates a whole page to 'fraudulent admissions forms' so the LEA must take a dim view.

I thought I'd ask mumsnet what they think. I now going off line and won't be back on till Thurs eve but would welcome any comments.
I'll come back with my hard hat on cos I have a feeling this might be a contentious issue

OP posts:

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Katiestar · 19/02/2009 19:36

I would normally agree with you Bamboo , but in the case it could directly affect the OP as (if I am understanding it right) the false adress puts the fraudsters child higher up the list than the OPs.

daisydancer · 19/02/2009 19:40

Report her.

ScummyMummy · 19/02/2009 19:45

Tell the LEA to use the terrorism laws to spy on her.

No, not really. I don't know what I'd do, tbh. But she must be v v v v stupid telling everyone about this. You or someone else will report her and she'll be humiliated.

Bakersman · 19/02/2009 19:45

I agree with the OP. Report her now so the LEA can act upon it.
Let us know what happens too please

CoffeeMad · 19/02/2009 19:50

I agree you should report her. If she is openly bragging about it then in my opinion she deserves it.

My dd now goes to a different school to all her nursery friends due to us being out of catchment and the school oversubscribed.

JulesJules · 19/02/2009 19:55

Bruxeur

But yes, definitely dob her in! Or nuke her from orbit! Or, preferably, both

NorthernLurker · 19/02/2009 19:59

She is behavinbg in a manner that's unfair to you and all the other families who live closer to that school. Report her - it may encourage her to not try getting her own way through deception in the future!

nomoreamover · 19/02/2009 21:29

re[port her if shes bragging about it - she won't have a clue who dobbed her in!

kayspace · 19/02/2009 21:41

Have to say I'm interested to see the responses here- a year or so ago there was an identical thread posted- and the truth is that at least 50% of responders thought that if you could get away with it, it was ok to use whatever method you could get away with to get your own precious DCs- who after all are due Only The Best- into the Best School and sod everyone else!

I am heartened to see that most of us now favour a degree of honesty!

paolosgirl · 19/02/2009 21:46

I wonder if that was my thread Kay? I posted earlier in this thread about it.

kkey21 · 19/02/2009 21:48

Please shop her-we are in 'Herts' and have been given a school almost 4 miles away-not our local one within 800m from our door, nor our other 2 choices which are the next closest ones....

We could be loosing out to someone like you have mentioned so do the right thing-its very unfair what she is doing.

mowbraygirl · 19/02/2009 21:48

A friend of ours is the Office Manager in an oversubscribed primary school. They had 3 appplication for places from parents who were suppose to live in her road, in fact one was suppose to live two houses away from our friend. As our friend has lived in her house over 27 years she knows the neighbours so just knocked on the doors to confirm that the people still lived there and hadn't moved when she was out at work one day. When the applicants were asked to provide evidence that they lived at the addresses
they all said they had decided that they were sending their children to another school.

kylesmyloveheart · 19/02/2009 23:22

i think if you are going to report her then you should be brave enough to give your name. also let her know it was you that has done it.

she obviously must trust you to let you in on this infomation. so stand uP and be counted if you are going to tell on her.

kayspace · 20/02/2009 10:27

Why, kyles? Why should she line herself up for abuse and possible nastiness? The other person has broken the rules and seemingly feels that if she can get away with it, it's OK. She's also not clever enough to keep it quiet- so perhaps MIGHT cause problems to the person she discovers 'shopped her'.

The whole point of enforced rules and laws in civilised society is to set down what is and isn't acceptable within that society. It protects the 'weak' from the strong, both in terms of physical strength, political clout, wealth etc. In this case it might be literal! The woman's husband might be built like a brick outhouse whereas Flibberty's DH might be 5' nothing. Why line up trouble when the rules are there to set acceptable boundaries and it's for the authorities to 'punish' lawbreakers and for Society to police those rules.

MrsMattie · 20/02/2009 11:14

I wouldn't shop her. I think it's a shame that she feels she has to do this. I don't agree with it. But you will lose her as a friend if you do. If you don't agree with what she is doing, say so to her.

zanzibarmum · 20/02/2009 12:03

What the LEA would do is to get MI5 on to her. Council staff would camp in her dustbins and put the house under observation. They would bug the kitchen and put a GPS tracker on the child - she might even been picked up and flown off to Guantanamo Bay to get the facts out of her.

It's be easier to shop her to the school and the LEA.

jealiebaby · 20/02/2009 12:49

Its easy to say when it is about someone else getting their child into the school they want. But i wonder how you would all feel if it was you who had reasons for trying to get your child into a particular school. I dont personally agree with lying to get your child into the school you want but think if she has her own reasons then you are best off keeping out of it.

Simplysally · 20/02/2009 13:00

I think it would depend how strongly I could get worked up about it. I've known about nefarious things in the past which I've chosen not to act on and equally, I've done a few reportings in my time for other actions.

If the woman has good reason for wanting this school above a nearer school, she should put that down on the form as extenuating circs - using a false address is silly as she's bound to be found out. My LEA do check on addresses but there are quite a few children from out of catchment in the school and not ones who've moved out after securing the place.

Are you sure that she's done it or is she being tongue in cheek? Just a thought.

paolosgirl · 20/02/2009 14:39

It depends when she's found out though. If it's after the child has started school the Councils and LEA's appear to take the view as the child has settled it's best to leave them.

From that point of view it's best to alert them to the fact before the child starts school.

To all the posters who say she may have a 'reason' for doing this - if that is the case she should use the same appeal system which the rest of us use.

Fizzylemonade · 20/02/2009 20:36

I would shop her, sorry. And no, I don't see why you should tell her. Inform the school.

I personally sacrificed living in a much nicer house to move into a school catchment area. It was worth it and it is lovely to walk to school every day. It doesn't stop me hankering after some lovely houses 2 streets away, still in catchment but that weren't for sale at the time we relocated.

The applications for schools are VERY clear when they ask where a child resides. She is not ignorant (although that is still no defence) she wants to have her cake and eat it.

Also the school my son attends tells you that they would consider withdrawing the place if you got into the school but moved between the acceptance date of 1st March and when the child is due to start school in that September.

Original poster

Flibbertyjibbet · 21/02/2009 15:58

Thanks for all the replies ladies.
I did wonder about putting it as an aibu and after all the 'yes shop her' answers I'm sorry I didn't now!

at the nuking her and lea camping in her bin!

She isn't a friend of mine, just someone that has been at a few of the same parties as me because she knows some of the same mums as me.

She just wants them to go there because its where she used to live. There is a really good school 3 mins walk from her new house but she wants to put them in the car twice a day which I don't understand. I will have to think about it but can see that I'll have to be quick about it. I have an accent thats not from this town so I am paranoid about ringing the school! But when me and my friend went for the tour, the secretary did say that this school is always oversubscribed so if there's any doubt then they do physically check. As routine the lea check with the council tax records, but as I said her previous house was rented from a relative so there may be all kinds of arrangments made re council tax.

I will let you know what happens... ie if I get brave enough to make that call...

Ooo! Just realised, ds1's best friend at nursery has an older brother already attending that school. I will see his mum tonight at nursery and tell her about this woman. She could always drop a hint to the school secretary tomorrow morning.

OP posts:

xfabba · 21/02/2009 19:11

surely the home visit will give it away? Here they ask to see the child's bedroom and everything (pretending to get to know the child but obviously to check they live there). Shop her, it's unfair.

nappyaddict · 21/02/2009 19:37

I would shop her. Wouldn't she get found out at the home visit?

If you do it now it gives her a good chance to get into another good school. If you wait until they actually give her a place there might only be places at crap schools left.

Original poster

Flibbertyjibbet · 22/02/2009 11:52

xfabba you must live near a very popular school indeed! They don't do a home visit unless the doubt is actually there. So I suppose its just a matter of planting that seed of doubt and letting the lea deal with it.
Last night I realised my friend who lives a bit further away than us but has put the first choice same as us. As we are towards the edge of a town, this friend hasn't got the options of someone like the 'cheat' who actually lives within 5 mins walk of 2 other schools and has (I counted on the A-z!) SIX decent schools closer to her actual address than the one she's claiming to live near.
I realised its not just whether she blocks my child a place, but she might be the one extra child blocking my friends child a place, and forcing them to make a journey twice a day that they shouldn't have to.
My friend is perfectly happy to ring the lea and 'grass' as her child is more likely to be affected. Plus, she doesn't actually know this other mum, so I get to come out of it without being the whistle blower.

OP posts:

Snowybird · 23/02/2009 10:07

You have every reason to report this to the LEA.
If it were me, I would report her then tell her to her face that I had done so.
Just to let her know that other mums do put honesty before solidarity in the face of a blatant lie which will disadvantage others.

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