About Us
Your Trusted Partner in
Education PR
A specialist division of Chelgate Consulting, Chelgate Education provides operational and strategic Communications support to the Education sector across a range of key disciplines:
- Issues tracking and engagement
- Crisis and acute issues management
- Corporate positioning & strategic reputation management
- Key audience communications (internal and external)
- Media training & interview preparation
- Marketing and promotion
Chelgate Education provides clients with a trusted partnership and experienced support whenever it is needed. Our team offers a unique blend of relevant experience and skills. It is headed by a Public Relations and Public Affairs professional widely recognised as one of the outstanding leaders of that industry. Another senior member led Strategic Communications for one of the UK’s most prestigious independent schools. A further senior team member has a breadth of teaching experience that ranges from universities to SEN, whilst the team’s Senior Advisors offer a spread of experience that stretches from the management of national examination boards to the leadership of major independent schools.
Meet The Team
Our Team
- Extensive Industry Experience
- Specialized Expertise
- Proven Track Record
- Collaborative Consulting
- Client-Centric Approach
Terence Fane - Saunders
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Dr Emily Hickey
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Dr Emily Hickey is a Consultant at Chelgate and coordinates the Chelgate Education division. Prior to joining Chelgate, Emily spent eight years in the education sector, teaching across secondary, further and higher education. For three years she worked in the SEND department of a large secondary school. She then spent four years teaching as a Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, the University of Surrey and City University of London, following which she spent a further year working as a teacher in the SEND department of Brooklands College. Her other professional experience includes working as Communications Officer to a Conservative MP and as a Select Committee Reporter for Parliament Today.
Lucy Elphinstone
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Lucy Elphinstone is a Cambridge graduate and joined the teaching sector in her late thirties, having previously worked in publishing and ghostwriting several books. After first heading up a nursery school, she then went on to senior positions in two prep schools before roles in senior education at Fettes College, King’s College Taunton, and Downe House School. Most recently, Lucy served as Headmistress for twelve years at Francis Holland School, Sloane Square, London, which was voted the Sunday Times Independent School of the Year 2023. In 2021, Lucy was awarded Best Head of a Public School by Tatler magazine having transformed the curriculum and character of FHS, as well as expanding the school’s pupil roll by nearly three hundred. Since leaving FHS, Lucy has been working as a private educational leadership consultant and serves as a board member of a number of educational trusts.
Simon Lebus CBE
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Simon Lebus has had a varied career spanning finance, industry, education and a brief period as a civil servant. His career in education has been especially associated with qualifications, and he was Group Chief Executive of Cambridge Assessment (now Cambridge University Press and Assessment) from 2002-2018, a period of major upheaval and reform in the English qualifications system and of growth in the number of international schools using English qualifications. He also served as Interim Chief Regulator at Ofqual in 2021, the second year of Covid, and was awarded a CBE in the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours list for services to educational assessment. Simon now has a portfolio of non-executive and advisory roles working with international school, education and education technology businesses. He is also a school governor and is a Bye-Fellow of Emmanuel College Cambridge and a Visiting Fellow of the Judge Business School there.
Martin Reader
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Martin Reader began his career at St Edward’s School in Oxford, before moving on to Oundle, where he became Deputy Head of Laxton, the day-school arm of Oundle School as the two schools merged. He then moved on to become Deputy Head of Reigate Grammar School before joining Wellington School as Head in 2006. In 2014, he was appointed Head of Cranleigh School and has recently stepped down after ten years in the position. Martin now works as an Educational Consultant and is currently a trustee of Hawk and Owl Trust and the Boarding Schools’ Association Foundation. He holds an MPhil from Oxford University and an MBA in Educational Leadership from the University of Hull.