NAS School referral

Can anyone offer us any advice. My son who was diagnosed aged 3,  has been on a Statement providing 30 hours support at a mainstream primary school. He is due to attend secondary school in September. Last June we went to look at the new NAS Anderson School in Chigwell Essex. We were told that any prospective student would need to be assessed by the school for their suitability and that we needed to persuade Essex LA Assessment Service to refer him. We have written and requested a referral and have requested it in two EHCP's, one at the end of the last school year, and another the Council insisted be completed in December. We have telephoned and emailed and written to the Council on numerous occasions chasing up the referral but it seems to us they just won't make it. They don't outright refuse, they just don't do it.

My wife was told in one conversation last month that 'papers' had been sent to the Anderson School, but when she pressed for a date this had been done, she was told someone would ring her back. When they did so it was another member of staff who said that nothing had yet been sent but it was going to be sent out shortly. All calls to the council since Christmas have met with the response that our 'caseworker' is away from the officer and will contact us on her return. I telephoned the Anderson School directly to ask whether they had in fact received anything from the Council about my son, I was told someone would ring me back but no one did. I then emailed asking the same question, and after a week received a response that did not answer my question and referred me back to the Council. We have received correspondence from the Council, accompanying his most recent EHCP that suggested to us they had a preferred school for our son, which is a mainstream school with a small Special Needs facility some 15 miles away, and that he could travel by taxi. My wife has visited that school and we don't think it addresses his needs remotely.

The experience of his mainstream primary school is that he needs specialised teaching in an appropriate environment, but we just cannot seem to find a way forward. I feel like the Council are running down the clock like the winning team in a football match. Our son is not incapable academically and will be doing some SATS, but he is very vulnerable and has the social behaviour of a child many years younger. He still watches pre-school TV and plays at Waybuloo or In the Night Garden. We and his primary school teachers do not believe he will survive in a mainstream school. I am also frankly a bit surprised and disappointed at the school's response to my question, which I think is entirely legitimate. Where are we going wrong?