What would happen to a HT who used GP's address for son's school admissions?

[Model5]

It seems like a crazy thing for someone in his position to do to me, but the son in question has told my DS this is what was done. And he did get a place at a school that would seem unlikely from his home address.

Father is married to and lives with mother, so no shared residency. The family live close to us and father is head at another secondary school. The boy goes to school in the next town at a very sought after school, close to where his grandparents live.

Assuming any of it is true, if they were found out, would the implications for the father be greater than for other parents, in view of his position?

I'm not about to do anything, but it seems like a huge risk to me. Is it?

You don't know anything about the situation at all, so you can't comment really. There are any number of reasons the child might have been offered a place in the school. You are just going by chinese whispers.

I'd be very surprised if a head teacher would risk his reputation to do this.

He obviously has contacts at the school and LA being a head teacher so I think that is more likely.

Also surely he wouldn't be silly enough to tell his young son if he did actually use the GP address?!

If the grandparents look after him after school this will work in his favour too

Aren't there rules that allow headteachers and teachers to choose schools not close to their home address if they work at that school? I think the child has probably got a bit mixed up in his facts.

He would be crazy to do it. But people do. There was a very splashy story a while back about a Head doing this.
I'd be amazed, though. I'd think someone in his position would have the common-sense to avail themselves of the renting option.
I'll never forget the sight of someone fairly senior in our LEA picking up mail from a flat they rented - and didn't even bother living in - next to a very popular London primary.
Or bumping into a school governor who was delighted she could now move back to her own home, her dd having secured a place at the local outstanding secondary.
Yes. The only thing that shocked me about the Head in SchoolPlace Cheating Scandal story was that she hadn't had the sense to emit one of the many legal opportunities for manipulating allocation.

He possibly was able to get a place on the basis of extenuating need if the nearest school was the one his father taught at? Lots of school staff prefer their children not to go to the school they work at

Sorry, I don't get it. Where did HT's son say that he put down his GPts' address as his own?

He obviously has contacts at the school and LA being a head teacher so I think that is more likely.

this wouldn't help with school admissions

If the grandparents look after him after school this will work in his favour too

this wouldn't help with school admissions

He could have got a place under the social need category eg a need to go to school in a different area to that where his dad is Head. It's a category sometimes used by police & social workers etc.

However the child may not have been made fully aware of the reasons.

DS1 attends a school that was historically the most desirable & impossible for people from our town to get into. A lot of people are STILL surprised when I say it has spaces in all years.

The school DS2 just got into, last yr turned away loads of yr7 applications. This yr nobody got turned away (we think). So what does OP mean by 'very sought after'?

DS1 attends a school that was historically the most desirable & impossible for people from our town to get into. A lot of people are STILL surprised when I say it has spaces in all years.

Yes, we have the council website warning that the High school my sons attend is unlikely to be able to grant placing requests (Scotland), it is 3rd top for exam passes in the country - yet the Head Teacher says he is desperate for more pupils or he wont be able to keep the teachers/run a full programme etc due to falling rolls within the catchment.

Sometimes perception and reality are two different things

thecatfromjapan - Renting to get a school place is NOT legal.

If someone makes a false or misleading application the place can be taken away even after the child has started at the school.

I can only say that whilst you might think any head teacher would be stupid to do this, well some head teacher's are just like us as parents and will do anything to get a place at a favoured school. You can lose all focus and reality.
If it is true then the pupil will loose their place at the school. Inevitably in such a situation it will become public knowledge and publicity will follow.
At that point as Chair of Governors at the school they are head teacher at I would have a very difficult decision to make. My gut says that I would be seriously considering disciplinary action against the head teacher for bringing the school into disrepute. There are a set of standards for headteachers but they are not a minimum standard but a set of standards to aim for. There is however a minimum set of standards for teachers which they would also have to adhere to and they definitely do not in my opinion if they did something like this. How could you as a school say or do anything about admissions at the school if the head has deliberately cheated for his own son,

Can't schools (or academies anyway) have a category to give staff's dc a priority? I thought this was brought in fairly recently.

They can give priority to children of their own staff. They cannot give priority to children of staff from other schools. In this case the head has got his child into another school.