That's alright then.

Hi Talkman
I agree cheating would be awful and a really bad example.

Which is why I didn't cheat

All within the rules and above board

We have a lovely 4 bed house to let in the Graveney catchment area if anyone is interested . . .

I've just had the misfortune to have a little too much time on my hands and have trawled through this thread.
Does cheating in order to get ones child into a "good" school not set a rather poor example to children? Would parents advocate cheating in exams or in sports?
In this area of South West London there seems to be an obsession with the "right" schools. I'm wondering if the issue is more to do with what's right for the parents rather than the kids. Imagine living close to the educational Holy Grail of Honeywell and Belleville catchments but not getting a place. "What will our friends think if our precious little one has to go somewhere like ahem...Alderbrook or Falconbrook, we'll never be able to show our faces in daylight again".
I could rant for a fortnight on this but I'll spare you as work beckons.

I'd just like to say to everyone that yes, it's nice to get your child into a 'good' school to try to give them a better start, but yes - as someone else has already said - the standard of everyschool fluctuates so it may not be that good by the time your child/ren gets there anyway.

What is the MOST important is the amount of time you, as a parent, spend with the child at home; how you interact; how you behave in front of them and the education and example you try to set for them OUTside of school hours. THIS is what will have more influence on your child's well-being and education than any other factor.

http://www.parenting-child-development. ... -tips.html

OMG. I've only just spotted how old the original posts were!!! I guess that goes to show how little impact any of these discussions have had in the real world. Nothing has changed and people have been bantering on about it for years!
Such a shame.
But I agree, so long as it's all legal then people will and should do it. But then surely everyone buying in the area needs to seriously consider these problems before they sign on the dotted line. They'd be foolish not to.

Hi
I did exactly this.

We don't earn enough to buy a house in a catchment area for a great local school (I won't go into too much detail for obvious reasons but it was a Belleville, Honeywell, Beatrix Potter, Ravenstone) and so we've rented a flat in the catchment area.

We actually own a house outside the areas for these schools and if we stayed there we wouldn't stand a chance of getting in.

When we start in September we will then move back to our house.

This isn't illegal (I've checked it out very carefully) and once one child is in the other(s) will follow on a sibling policy.

I wanted to share this because I think everyone should do this. Its not illegal and it might persuade councils to stop this stupid school lottery.

RAS

I can see both sides of the story here. Yes on the one hand it is harsh if you are unable to get your child into your nearest school but likewise why would you risk saddling yourself with an enormous mortgage just to get your child into a good school if you can rent nearby for the short term? I know of someone who did decide to buy close to Honeywell and not only did her child not get a place there but now they have a mortgage they can't really afford so private schooling is no longer an option. For me the price of keeping up your moral standard would be too high.
One of the nearest schools to our house is the Holy Ghost, which is supposed to be very good, but because we are not Catholic we would not get a place. Considering this is a state school I am effectively paying for it through my taxes and yet I am not allowed to send my child there. Something is seriously wrong with the system all over.
Good luck to your friend if she does move in and successfully gets a place. She will need all the luck she can get if she has to face an angry mob of parents at the school who all think she has committed a moral crime.

Just wondering - which planet is Herogirl a hero of?

@ AA and others, you say that she is 'just playing the system' and there is nothing wrong with that. I wonder what your views are on people who 'play the benefit system' and what effect that has on society. Totally legal but has negative consequences on others. Do you think this is different and if so why? Rules are there to make things fair and not to be played for personal gain in my opinion.

Rather more fundamentally though, I have to say I think you are rather naive to actually post such a question on here. It is obviously immoral what your friend is doing whether she lives at yours or not, I am rather surprised though that anyone in their right minds would ask this question on an open local forum.

It's interesting as I understand it this whole moving to get a school place is a very grey area and I don't think children generally get asked to leave once they have started. It is absolutely rife around here.

I'm sure the head of Honeywell doesn't care what parents do to get school places for Secondary school he is a school head not an admissions policeman and of course pupils moving on to good schools only help when lists of destinations for secondary are given out they certainly don't include details as to how a place was obtained!!

Were any of the local state schools that are now private only leased on short term leases does anyone know are were they all long term/sold?

Also please can you all link to 3/4 bed houses within Honeywell/Belleville catchment for 600k I'm not fussy but would like a garden the larger the better? I suspect those figures are waaaay out!

Juliantennis coach are local estate agents really leafletting looking for people to let out their house for school admisson purposes? Short or long term do you know?

Maybe the council would like to see that, they could have a quiet word to stop it maybe threaten to withhold a few parking permits for those minis!!

Hi Everyone
I just wanted to step in as there were a few comments made about fraud, websites being shut down etc.

Firstly, this is an unmoderated forum.

Its an important legal status which means we do not check posts before they are published.

We do this deliberately because if we say in our t's and c's that we don't check then we can't be liable for them. Its a bit of a simplification but its pretty much true.

So we're not checking posts for anything, let alone school place fraud! We do have an automatic filter so if I try and post a swear word like **** then it won't appear, but thats about rude words as opposed to anything else.

Secondly, earlier in the thread it was mentioned that Yahoo might shut us down!

Yahoo are nothing to do with us and the only people who can shut us down would be our web hosters and only if we didn't pay our bills.

Thank you to all of you for using NVN and any queries please post or email me!

A

Herogirl I think you mistook my hugely sarcastic comment about not wanting to post on here for fear of being reported as being serious. I think your threatening post is laughable and isn't going to stop any of us discussing these type of issues.

I believe this is a private website and I seriously doubt if the Administrator is going to report us to the Council (because that is your job it would seem) or even really cares that I told you to give it a rest as this type of discussion is what makes this forum so helpful and informative.

I don't see how my post could be considered a threat! Question was whether posting on this site could lead to reporting and answered with a yes. Agree it is not a criminal offence but Dandelion's articles confimed it was fraudulent. I have not given any advice on tax or anything, just brought attention to possible consequences. Abbeville mum thinks that I should go away if I find what people say on this site offensive. I would never make such a suggestion as it is contrary to the purpose of this site. I do not disagree with all the views, of course and would never suggest to anyone whose views I disagree with that they should not read or post on this site.

I repeat, this discussion has highlighted a serious problem and to that end, I am sure it has been of benefit to some, particularly those who miss out on a place. For those of you who think my posts are too strong, I urge you to read the articles Dandelion posted as they say it all and they are in far stronger terms with regard to possible sanctions than anything I have posted. In particular, it highlights the fact that this sort of action is not victimless.

Yes, now I feel a bit silly for defending you herogirl because your posts are getting a bit ridiculous now!
Nobody is colluding or advising on fraud? I very much doubt Yahoo is vaguely interested.
I think its an important topic to discuss and I agree that views should be challenged but you're taking it a bit far. How are these far fetched threats helping the debate?