PARENTS disgusted with the special educational needs system in Wiltshire and in particular with Springfields Academy in Calne say they believe their children's needs are being ignored.

Barry Vaughan, of Rowden Hill, Chippenham is fighting to keep his 11-year-old son Jamie, who has Asperger’s syndrome, out of Springfields Academy after Wiltshire Council ruled in a tribunal that he must attend the school.

And mother-of-two Jen Vaughan, no relation, from Amesbury, was so upset by her son’s experience there that she found him another specialist school.

Mr Vaughan, 48, an engineer from Chippenham, first took action after feeling his son's needs as an autistic child were not being met, when he came home 'in distress' from a special needs primary school.

"Autism was being treated as bad behaviour," Mr Vaughan said.

"The specialists that were helping the children were behaviour specialists and it is only in the last couple of years that they had an autism specialist. They were meant to be helping and supporting these children but they weren't."

After being accepted as a pupil at mainstream Seagry Primary School, Jamie flourished and performed well in SATs, although he was not able to write just a few months before.

Despite Jamie's progress, a judge ruled on July 22 that he could not attend Hardenhuish School from September and that Springfields Academy, which was given a Requires Improvement rating from Ofsted last month, was his 'named school'.

Mr Vaughan said: "They said he has to go to Springfields for one year and then mainstream school.

"If you have a special needs child there are no education options – you have to send them to Springfields."

The Vaughans are now calling for an overhaul of the SEN system in Wiltshire and are worried the system will fail Jamie again.

"I have looked at private schools and am remortgaging my house because I cannot watch him suffer like that again," Mr Vaughan added.

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: “As this school is an academy we are not directly responsible for its school improvement or educational standards but we work closely with the school to ensure it can meet the needs of Wiltshire’s children with ASD.

“We always try to work in partnership with parents to agree the best and most appropriate educational provision for their children with special educational needs, with the child’s and family’s needs always at the heart of any decisions made.

"The SEN code of practice encourages families and the local authority to resolve any disagreements through mediation and if this does not resolve the issue families have a statutory right to appeal decisions. It is always our aim to work in partnership with families."

Springfields’ former head teacher Trystan Williams was suspended in 2013 after an incident in which a pupil was seriously injured. He was cleared of all blame or involvement two years later.

Mrs Vaughan feels his departure has led to the school's downfall.

"We never had any issues at Springfields previous to 2013. It was a warm open friendly school and any problems were addressed immediately," she said.

Mrs Vaughan removed her son Thomas, who is 15 and now attends Downland School in Devizes, from Springfields in 2013 after he was unhappy with his options and his oral dyspraxia led to a confusion with his transition tutor.

She added: "There is now a huge lack of educational placements for children with SEN. Many children have left Springfields Academy or have been asked to leave being told the school can no longer meet their needs. I feel the school has let down a lot of children and parents in the last couple of years.

"The change in Thomas was heart wrenching. He turned from a little boy who was gaining confidence into someone who was angry, kicking out and crying - all the behaviour of someone who wasn't being listened to and now he is starting to get that confidence back."

Barry Vaughan said: "This was the sort of behaviour Jamie was showing while at his former primary school, and we are very concerned that it could happen to him again at Springfields."

Jan Lane, 58, from Hullavington, said she is glad her son Luke Dicker had completed his education at Springfields before the changes were implemented.

“I’m very thankful that Luke had finished his education by the time Springfields became an academy and things went badly wrong,” he said.

Mr Dicker, who is now 24, won the Rotary Young Citizen of the Year title in 2010 and has since spoken at the House of Lords, visited Buckingham Palace and carried the Olympic torch.

A spokesman for Springfields Academy said: “Our recent Ofsted report, although disappointing in its overall grades, made clear that The Springfields Academy has made many improvements under its new senior leadership during the last academic year.

“The inspectors found that safeguarding was effective and children felt safe. Positive changes to our residential provision, and to the management of behaviour, resulting in fewer exclusions for incidents of aggression, were also highlighted.

“Many parents made a point of telling Ofsted how their child's and their family's lives had been transformed by the good care, support and education our school provides.

“Improving communication with parents is a key focus for Springfields; our considerable efforts in this area were also acknowledged by the inspectors. We would always encourage any family that has concerns to work with us to resolve them.

“We continue to work closely with the local authority and other special schools in Wiltshire to support children with complex special educational needs.

"As stated in the report, we have agreed that the focus of our admissions will be pupils with identified autistic spectrum disorders.”