Graveney - Renting in catchment for admissions purposes

[StockwellLiving]

I am thinking about renting for a 12 month period or so from this summer to cover up to beginning of Y7 for DD in Sept 2013. And then moving back out.

I know (most people think) renting is wrong (and often discussed here). I actually also think its wrong, but I also know others do it (and not sure why we should be the only one not "playing the game", and I do want to avoid my local catchment school (have no religion, no money (for indies), average DD with no chance of her passing selection tests).

I am not starting this thread to get into the rights and wrongs of it - I only want to ask the very specific question: Do "renters" get caught and are places actually withdrawn?

I am asking about Graveney, not in general. I know from threads on MN that some LAs do try and look into short-term renting. But somehow I think that this particular school and this particular LA don't really care (happy to have aspirational middle classes moving into catchment) ...... so do they look into whether the rental is permanent or not, whether the renters have an owned (proper) home (rented out for a year)

Just wondering as it seems its increasingly popular to do this ....

You are very cowardly aren't you?

I hope they do look into it and offers are withdrawn.

They do it for our selective, you have to live within a certain postcode, before you can even take the test, many parents rent in catchment, they get caught by various ways, owning another property, going to primary schools 90 minutes away, using grandparent address

And offers are quite rightly withdrawn.

I don't think it's a great idea, especially as your DC will have to commute to school once you move back, but I personally know 2 families who did it and I think you're right - the school is perfectly happy with this arrangement. It cuts down on their local families who may have chiildren who won't reflect well in league tables. My ds goes to our nearest school, can get there in 10 mins and is thriving, but if you're afraid of mixing with the locals, go for it. You're unlikely to be caught out.

Oh yes silly me, god forbid local children should go to local schools.

As for being afraid of mixing with the locals, what the actual fuck ?
Are you for real??

Surely that's a wind up?!?

Tiggytape, Graveney falls under Wandsworth rather than Merton. I don't know what the Wandsworth admissions policy is like, though.

In answer to the op's specific question, as things stand at the moment, then no, you won't get caught. We know several people who've done this - there's one street locally which is known as the Graveney rentals street as there are so many houses rented out for 12 months.

However, a few things to think about....

Wandsworth is changing its admissions criteria so that the 'catchment' area for all schools will change - we are currently in the Graveney catchment (i.e would get in on distance) but are not sure how we will be affected in future.

Graveney is now an academy so might change the way it does things in future so just because people have got away with it in the past is no guarantee that you will in the future

Is Graveney the right school for your child? To be honest, I wouldn't want a child of mine in middle and even the upper classes can be quite disrupted - extension classes seem to be very well behaved and they go through subjects at a frenetic pace - but you say your child isn't academic enough for extension. It's very much two schools in one building. It's also huge and so individual opportunities can be quite limited (e.g. Access to school trips etc) and the classrooms are small and quite cramped. My ds's Y7 class has 33 children in and I don't know how they manage to squeeze them into some of the rooms. Graveney was the right school for my ds as he's in extension and made the transition with all his friends from the local primary and it's a 5 minute walk round the corner, but it's not the right school for everyone.

Finally, you would be taking a place away from a local child - you say you don't want to get into a debate about the morality of your decision but there's no getting away from the fact that its WRONG! If you're so desperate for your dc to go to Graveney, why don't you come and live in Furzedown permanently? It's a lovely area and then you could contribute to the life of the community rather than parachute in for a year

It really makes me cross that people say that it's wrong! As a parent your duty is to do whatever you reasonably can to ensure the best for your child. The OP pays the same taxes as anyone else and is entitled to the best state school to which her DC can gain admission.
I have a brother, an atheist, who lives in an area where to get into a good school you must, he says, 'pay or pray'. He's politically opposed to private education so they have been going to church for the last 18 months. It worked. and DD1 is off to the church comp this Sept. Now the problem is - keep up the church -going for DD2 or rely on the sibling policy...
I am a regular church-goer who uses indies where I can and it amuses me.

I'm with dido here. With kids now in Secondary there are very few I knew from playgroup days who can claim much moral high ground. It has been pay, pray, tutor, rent or move.

I know of at least half a dozen who rented, including within the Graveney catchment. It is a big disruption to family life but I dont know anyone who regrets their decision. I also dont know anyone who was "caught".

Dido's post made me laugh. I knew one couple who went to church to get that school place and ended up devout pillars of the parish.

Perhaps that is what deterred my husband. We paid instead. Worked for us as we were never that bothered about new cars etc. But just as unacceptable in MNland.

It's Wandsworth, not Merton, and they don't have catchments (it's straightforward distance to the school). The admissions footprint is tiny all properties that close to the school will have a hefty premium.

It'll probably be (fractionally) easier to get into Graveney (assuming Bolingbroke does actually open).

But how are you planning to explain to DD what you are thinking of doing, both in terms of integrity and in terms of separating her from all her primary school friends?

Firstly it's Wandsworth. Secondly they absolutely do care and thirdly they have cracked down heavily on this in the past few years.

And, of course, proximity to the school is last on their list for criteria. Unless of course your child is one of the 67 who gets an amazing score in the Wandsworth test.

Not forgetting also, of course, that there were 2,006 applications for 240 places.

Your tale about your brother made me laugh dido He is politically opposed to paying but not morally opposed to lying. How did he work that one out?

As a parent you also have a duty to teach your Dc right from wrong, morals and ethics, not "I don't agree with the rules so I will lie and you, FB must also lie and pretend we live in the area"

*dc, not FB obviously :)

That made me laugh too whyme2!

didofido it is wrong because it means that those with resources can take state provided opportunities they are not entitled to and deprive others of them. It is no different in moral terms to me as benefit or tax fraud and I really wish it would be treated the same in law.

Seeing a few parents threatened with prison for making false statements on their admissions forms might bring some sanity back to the whole issue.

I totally agree with it being on a level with benefit fraud etc.

If you know from year 4-5 that you do not like your local schools then FFS make a conscious decision to move into the area AT THAT TIME. Become part of the community, make friends in the area, commit to living there because you feel it's best for your Dc

Otherwise it is fraud, pure and simple.

Am ignoring entirely the question of moral rights and wrongs, and also whether this is the right school for your child. I know of people who did it two years ago for Graveney. They rented out their own house (only a few streets away) and the entire family moved to live in a flat. I also know of families who have swapped houses in adjacent streets for two years to get into Graveney. But I think you may have missed the boat - the rental people usually get in well before the 1 year mark. It is big business. I doubt it will continue much longer.

It's simply not fair - we live close to Graveney but not quite close enough to get a place on distance. DS did the exam and did very well but it was his fourth choice so he didn't get a place. It is a highly emotive issue and you may find that someone 'shops' you anyway. Just because other people do it doesn't mean it's right!

I think you need to move lock, stock and barrel or grit your teeth and do the test for selective entry.

Why not move to Sutton where all the schools are generally better than they probably are in your neck of the woods?

What would you plan on doing with your current property?

Given how fluid the rental property market is in London, if you already rent, then what you're thinking of is fine, provided you can afford a local rental. And are happy to accept the risk that it still won't get you a place. Unless you are getting a council or housing association tenancy then no rental is "permanent" in that sense.

If you own, are you selling? If not, then you will have a much harder job to prove that what you are doing is a legitimate relocation. As a minimum you would need to ensure that you were no longer responsible for council tax on your owned property. It only takes a few minutes to check an applicants address for primary school, and check whether they are still paying council tax.

I know plenty of families who are selling up when their dcs are in Year 5 in order to give them the flexibility they need in finding a suitable location for secondary schools.

Thanks for your comments.

tiggytape: Thanks, Graveney is in Wandsworth. Graveney/Wandsworth ? I think (hence my post) doesn?t check any of the stuff which Merton does. I certainly can?t see in their admission policy a statement such as that which you quote for Merton. "It is not acceptable for a family to use a temporary address, rented or otherwise, to secure a place of their preference". So I?m not even sure (despite the morality question) whether there would be a lie on the form. At the time of application the rental property would be our home.

LocalSchoolMums: but the commute we would have is no worst than many others in London who avoid catchment schools to go private, religious or selective. Yes, agree that my sense is that Graveney doesn?t care it is happening.

tantrums, most MNs participating in this forum (ducks and waits for volley) want to avoid kids from the estates and so on ? if they are honest. Just look at most of the threads (mostly all about indies, or selectives, and other ?desirable? schools?). It will be dressed up as ?what?s best for my DC?, ?great academic results? (ignoring that that is largely a reflection of intake), ?he/she is really a sensitive soul and needs great pastoral care?, ?so gifted?, and so on... but in reality it is all just trying to get kids into a school with similar kids. And that is just what we are about: we want our DC to get to a nice middle class school for any of those reasons. But again ? not really wanting to get into any of that on this thread. Lets start another one!

basildonBond - thanks. Curious about Wandsworth admissions change ? any one know more? But in any case as Graveney is an academy, it sets its own criteria (I believe). (I was a little modest when I said DD was not bright ? I think she has a good chance of getting into the top set ? but the 98% pass mark to do get through on the test ? does seem like a bit of a lottery. But even if I move permanently, I would still be taking a place away from someone who is already local

didofido, NeedMoreSleep: agree!

meditrina: I think as quite a few people are doing it (and it doesn?t seem to be lying ? as mentioned it would be our ?home?) ? it is an easy explanation: we moved to get into the school. The school allows this..... (as I think is the case ? hence my starting this thread to see whether that is right).

FrankWippery - ah so maybe I?m wrong and they do care/check! You seem the only person so far to have said so ? do you know of people who had places withdrawn. Where they people who genuinely moved (albeit only for a year ? changed council tax, primary school address etc) or people that simply rented an address with no real living there?

janinlondon - thanks. Interesting that they only moved a couple of streets!! So they are still contributing to the community by doing the rental thing. (pace tantrums). Why do you think it won?t continue much longer?

gazzalw - agree none of this is fair. Do you know of people who have been ?shopped? and places removed? (We will try the test of course as well.)

All who expressed disapproval or indeed any who think it?s not wrong : as I said, I didn?t particularly want to get into the rights or wrongs of it, it is often discussed. I am only interested in the question posed in the OP.

As a parent of a kid from an estate well 3 of them actually, you would find it difficult to avoid my eldest 2 who are at selective schools.

Dc3 being less academic will go to the state secondary in 2 years, in an area we live in, even though there may well be better middle class schools as this is where we live.

But just for the record 3 pupils at ds1s school took the test, got good enough results to go onto second stage but got place withdrawn due to renting in catchment.

No I don't know anyone who has been shopped but it's a highly emotive issue as you can see from this thread. I do have to say that if our DS had missed out on a place because of this type of educational 'gazumping' and I knew about it I would be tempted to 'shop' the family.

Mind you it's not really any different from going to church to get one's children into the best church school in the area....

Some people do play by the rules - our DS initially missed out on his preferred choice school because other children lived closer even though they'd all scored the same in their 11+ - you just have to accept it. He did get his place after a short wait!

At the end of the day I feel your pain. We were lucky with DS that he is bright and we knew we had the option to consider selective schools - and he got in to one. It might be a different story for his younger sister who is not currently looking so academic. I know that we would have been a lot less comfortable about where we live if we'd had to consider the local comps as some of our six CAF options.

I would suggest you consider moving...but other posters are right about Graveney. We went to open days two years in a row and I got the decided feeling from the parents that the focus is on the brighter two streams and not the other two.

The Michaela Academy looked as if it would be an attractive (and local) alternative to Graveney but nothing has been heard about it since they failed to secure the site they were after....