A high-up staff member at Bracknell Forest Council has been selected to steer management and learning policies.

Duane Chappell has been appointed to the role of assistant director for education and learning, following the recent retirement of Cheryl Eyre.

Duane, the council’s current head of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and specialist support services, will take up the role from January 1, 2024.

In the meantime, she will be looking at how to structure the council’s SEND team from the new year.

Duane became a council staff member in June.

Since then, the council has said that she has made “significant progress” on its Written Statement of Action and has made big improvements to the SEND service.

Prior to being hired by Bracknell Forest Council, she served as a strategic lead service member for people aged 0-25 at South Gloucestershire Council, and a strategy and commissioning manager for SEND and inclusion at Warwickshire County Council.

She has also worked as a secondary school maths teacher and has held several roles as a middle and senior leader within schools.

This summer, seven new SEND staff joined Bracknell Forest Council to support its statutory support services and specialist support services teams.

Chris Kiernan, interim assistant director of education and learning, will remain in his role until the end of December to allow Duane to firm up the new structure and make appointments as necessary.

She will report to councillor Roy Bailey (Labour, Town & The Parks), the executive member for children, young people and learning.