Comments on: Parents who cheat to get school places will be prosecuted

By: Tracey

Tracey — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:43:00 +0000

Exactly Laura. So why won’t Parents Outloud say what needs to be said and offer up some healthy public criticism of the parents who are lying about where they live in order to secure places at schools that are not local to them?

You say ‘I understand how they can be forced to go to such lengths’. No one forces them to go to any lengths – lets be clear. These are deliberate attempts to fraudulently secure a place they have no right to, at the expense of a local child. Rather than sitting by and being understanding and ‘hoping’ that the Government will stop this, why not come out and condemn it?

By: admin

admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:30:24 +0000

Tracy no one is arguing with you and of course it is not right for the practice your friend is experiencing to happen, it is absolutely wrong. The rhetoric of choice is a myth and always has been, choice is Governments words . There has to be a place for local children at local schools and hopefully the government will stop parents renting property etc to secure places they have at present no right to. Today many children are cared for by grandparents and others and to go to a school local to their home is difficult so what we need are extra places a second form entry, school places should and must not be a competition nor should it cause the terrible stress it does especially when lottery places joins the debate.

By: Tracey

Tracey — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:40:58 +0000

I’m disappointed by Parents Outloud’s response to this. Let’s not forget that the parents who are making deceptive applications are the ones who have money, connections and resources – this is not a case of ‘all sorts’ of parents voicing their dissatisfactions, it is a privileged minority of parents abusing their privileges in order to secure a place at a local child’s expense.
A friend of mine is applying for her daughter’s school place. She lives on the same road as the school, literally a three-minute walk if that. She knows parents who are renting a flat for the few months of their application process – their flat is nearer than her house and it seems likely that they will, in effect, take her daughter’s place, though they actually live much further away.
Local children should go to their local primary school. The rhetoric of ‘choice’ is a damaging thing to promote; in effect it creates a competition which, again, middle-class parents are likely to win. Parent Outloud needs to reconsider who it is speaking out loud for.

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:42:42 +0000

My daughter, Amelia, got a place at her secondary school in Maidstone, Kent, because the family lives just a fifth of a mile inside the catchment area. It’s a fine line that changes every year depending on how many siblings get places first, I am a communications manager. Cheating parents cannot be condoned, but I understand how they can be forced to go to such lengths as renting houses or “finding God” to get their child a place. “All parents ever want is the right school for their child. Year on year, parents are being put in this position. I can’t endorse people doing the wrong thing but I can absolutely understand what drives them to do that. I question whether the Government should be looking at making schools more equal in the first instance, rather than prosecuting parents who use underhand tactics to secure their child a place. When you are looking for where to send your child you haven’t got time to wait until they build a new good school. There’s no use knowing that in three years time there will be something better on offer. Amelia, 12, attends Maplesden Noakes School, a comprehensive in Maidstone where the grammar school system is still in place. The problem is really focused in Kent — for grammar schools it doesn’t matter how far away you live. But the other 90 per cent of children can only go to their nearest school. (published in the Times 3/11/09)