Leadership

Ed Elliott was educated at the Royal Grammar School in Worcester. He gained a College scholarship, a University Prize and a First Class degree reading Geography at St Anne’s College, Oxford. On graduation, he joined banknote printers De La Rue plc as a management trainee and held posts in marketing, purchasing, and production in the UK, Malta and the Republic of Ireland. In 1992, Ed left the industry and began his teaching career at Whitgift School in Croydon becoming Assistant Head of Sixth Form in 1995.

In 1997, Ed joined The Perse as Head of Sixth Form, and in 2001 became Director of Studies with responsibility for the curriculum.

In 2004, Ed became Deputy Head (Staff), and took over as Head in September 2008. During his time as Head, Ed has led the move to full co-education with a doubling of pupil numbers and the construction of new facilities including two classroom blocks, an extended science faculty, the Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre, and The Perse Sports Centre, featuring a 25 metre, six-lane swimming pool and climbing wall.

Ed was the first person in his family to go to university and is passionate about the transformative effects of a 3D education that develops students’ academic abilities and extra-curricular interests whilst providing high-quality pastoral care.

Ed has been an Independent Schools Inspector and Vice-Chair of HMC’s Education Committee. He is also a founder member of SAGE – the Strategic Alliance of Global Educators, which is an association of some of the world’s best schools.

Ed’s publications include University Applications, Making a Success of Them and Leading Schools in the Twenty First Century. He sits on the Standards and Regulatory Compliance Committees of Cambridge Assessment, and is a member of the Advisory Board for The Perse School (Singapore).

James Piper was educated at Repton School, Derbyshire, and Durham University (BA: Classics), before completing a PGCE (Classics) at Pembroke College, Cambridge.

After dipping his toes into accountancy with Deloitte, he built up teaching experience in Kenya and N Yorkshire before joining the Dragon School, Oxford, as an NQT in 2000. There he became Head of Classics, was Master i/c Cricket, and ran a Year 6 boarding house. He also became an ISEB setter for Common Entrance Greek, a role which he still fulfils.

In 2011 James became Deputy Head at Bilton Grange Prep School, Rugby, before starting at the Perse Prep as Head in September 2014. In 2015 he completed an MEd (Educational Leadership) at the University of Buckingham.

In 2018 James started as a governor at Eastbourne College, Sussex and in 2020 he joined the Advisory Council for The Perse School Singapore, as well as taking on responsibility for the Junior Division of the Perse.

Francesca Heftman was educated at Benenden School in Kent and the University of Manchester (BA Hons in Psychology), before completing a Primary PGCE at Homerton College, The University of Cambridge. Having initially taught Key Stage 2 at Colville Primary School in Cambridge, Francesca joined the Pelican in 2012 where she worked across both the Early Years and Key Stage 1 as a dedicated and passionate class teacher.

In her role as Literacy Co-ordinator, Francesca developed many areas of the literacy curriculum; notably introducing and developing the Hemispheres handwriting programme across both the Pelican and the Prep. Francesca joined the Pelican Senior Leadership Team as KS1 Leader in 2015 and was appointed Head of the Pelican in August 2020.

Alison Shakespeare joined the Perse in 2018. She read geography at Fitzwilliam College Cambridge and subsequently joined PricewaterhouseCoopers, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant. She worked in a series of senior finance roles before becoming Business Director and Clerk to the Governors of Leicester Grammar School Trust in 2006.

During her 12 years as Business Director of Leicester Grammar, Alison oversaw the relocation of the Trust’s schools to a new green field site and a major expansion of pupil numbers. As Bursar of the Perse she is responsible for all support functions, including the School’s finances, IT, HR, buildings and grounds.

Alison is an ISI Compliance Inspector, carrying out school inspections for the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) and is also a member of the ISI Education Advisory Forum, a strategic body which advises the ISI Board. She has previously served as a Director of the ISI, a Director of the Independent Schools Council, and a Trustee and Director of the ISBA (Independent Schools Bursars Association). She was national chair of the ISBA 2017-18.