Staff and Governors

Elstree Learning Development Department

Elstree School Librarian

Elstree School Doctor

Elstree School Counsellor

Elstree Grounds Team 

Elstree Maintenance

Mr J.B. Sunley *¹

Chair of Governors 

James Sunley is an Elstree Old Boy (1971-1975) who lives near Hungerford in West Berkshire with his wife Lisa and four children. He became Chair of Governors for Elstree in 2014. 

James runs a family property, development and venture capital business. A product of Oxford and Reading Universities, James is especially interested in environmental matters and the advances of technology which help improve educational methods, healthcare and standards of living.

An enthusiastic sportsman, especially cycling, golf and skiing, James held the top Cresta Run record for 16 years, and has been President of The St Moritz Tobogganing Club since 2014. He is also a proud part owner of a small Burgundian vineyard.

Mr J. Dahl ²

James is the 15th Master of Wellington College. He was educated at The Royal Grammar School, Newcastle before boarding at Haileybury for his Sixth Form. He read Classics at Jesus College, Cambridge before starting his teaching career under Sir Anthony Seldon at Brighton College. He became Head of Classics at the age of 23 and then Head of Sixth Form. James left Brighton in 2006 to become a Housemaster for seven happy years at Repton School, before moving to Berkshire in 2013 with his family to be Director of Admissions and Marketing at Wellington. He was also Deputy Head (Pastoral) before being appointed Master in September 2019.

James is a Grade 8 flautist, pianist and percussionist, and represented Cambridge University at second team level in both cricket and rugby. He is passionate about holistic models of education, as well as the transformative power of coeducation and boarding. James serves as a Governor at two other prep schools, is a trustee at AQA, the UK’s largest examination board, and also serves as a trustee for the Old Wellingtonian Charitable Trust as well as the Haileybury Society. He retains a keen interest in the Arts and enjoys classical music, opera and spending time with his family in his spare time.

Mrs P. Foulds ^{1, 3} 

Pippa Foulds was educated at Benenden School and Edinburgh University, where she read Economics and Economic History.

After University, Pippa qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Arthur Andersen before a career in Investor Relations at BAA, EMI and now at ITV where she has been Director of Investor Relations for  almost 10 years.

Pippa is married to Mark, with two children Wilf and Aggie who are both at Elstree. Pippa is a keen sportswomen, particularly tennis, skiing and sailing and loves cooking for friends and family.

Mrs J. Joynson ²

Juliet Joynson, BA Hons, Dip SpLD, has over 20 years of experience supporting children’s learning.  She is the Head of Learning Support in the Upper Prep at Thomas’s Battersea, London.  

Juliet and her husband, Michael have three sons and live in south west London.  She is a keen skiier, enthusiastic cook and passionate advocate for neurodiversity.

Juliet joined the Elstree Governors in 2020 and specifically supports the Elstree Pre-Prep, sitting on the Academic committee.

Mrs J.G. Lyons  ^{3, 4, 5}

Married with three children, both of Jane’s boys experienced many happy years at Elstree.

Jane attended LAMDA and after a short acting career worked in PR. Jane has spent 35 years working as a volunteer raising money for charities, mainly for NSPCC and St Michael’s Hospice , Basingstoke where she is a Trustee. Jane is also Chairman of The Friends of SMH and was awarded an MBE in 2020.

Jane joined Elstree as a Governor in 2015 and it remains her pleasure to serve this wonderful school.

Mr J.R. McKinnel ²

James began his career as a solicitor in Hampshire after spending a year teaching English at Elstree in 2012. The ‘Elstree year’ sparked a passion for teaching and he left the law to take up the post of Head of History at Ludgrove in 2014. In 2018 he moved to Winchester as a History Don and Chaplain (and was recently ordained by the Church of England). He has since been appointed a Housemaster.

Married to Holly, with two small boys, James is a keen sportsman having once captained Scotland Universities and played flyhalf for Oxford University Blues. He fulfils various charity roles including for the Church Pastoral Aid Society and the Crown and Manor Club.  

 James joined the governing body in 2022 and supports the Academic committee.

Mrs E.E.A. McKendrick ²

Emma McKendrick was educated at Bedford High School and then went to Liverpool University. She began her teaching career at the Royal School in Bath where she progressed to her first Headship. In 1997 she took up her role as Head of Downe House where she remains.

She has served as a Governor at a number of Prep Schools and Senior Schools, including King’s College, Canterbury, Radley College and she is currently on the Board of Wellington College. She has also served on the GSA Education Committee, the Independent Schools’ Examination Board Council and is a Trustee of the Prep School Baccalaureate. She is married to Iain and has two sons, both of whom went to Elstree.

Emma is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and loves going to the theatre, opera and travelling, as well as eating out with friends and family. She particularly enjoys visiting their home in Southwold in Suffolk.

Mr N. Murphy  ^{2, 3}

Niall has worked at Radley College for nearly thirty years, as a History teacher, Head of History, History examiner for ISEB Common Entrance, deputy housemaster, games coach and the first Tutor (housemaster) of K Social. Since 2015 he has been the Senior Master Co-Curricular at Radley, dealing with all aspects of life outside the classroom.

He joined Elstree as a governor in 2014 and has the pleasure of seeing many Elstree boys at their senior schools, whether at Radley or in opposition teams!

Mr G.A.W. Owston ^{1, 2}

Gavin has educated all of his three children at Elstree.

Having spent 20 years in investment banking, he is now a partner of a UK based private investment firm in London. He makes investments in telecom, media, technology, education and business services companies.

He is inspired by the passion of the teachers at Elstree and in awe of the energy all the children exude at the school. Gavin joined the Elstree board of Governor’s in 2015 and chairs the Finance and General Purposes committee.

Mr A. Pannell ⁵

Andrew’s son and daughter are fortunate to be current pupils at Elstree, both of whom adore their time at school.

Professionally, Andrew is a Corporate / Venture Capital lawyer, who is a Partner of a London based legal / alternative assets consulting firm. He advises both investment funds and high-growth start-ups, operating mainly in the technology sector. Having worked in the ASEAN region (Vietnam and Singapore) for close to a decade, he now lives locally in Bucklebury with his family and their two much loved dogs.

Mrs M. Price ³

Melissa has three children and both of her boys attended Elstree.

During her time as an Elstree parent she enjoyed being on the Friends of Elstree and Gift Fair Committees. Professionally, she has a law degree from the University of Cambridge and for many years worked as a lawyer in private practice and in-house at the BBC. She has been a trustee of a number of charities and brings to the Board expertise in charity law and reputation management.

Mrs E. Shaw ³

Safeguarding Governor

Liz has long standing connections with Elstree; her brothers Alex and Charles Hoare both being Old Boys and mother Frances formerly providing learning support.

Liz went to school locally at Downe House and then attended Edinburgh University. After a period as a civil servant, Liz changed tack by studying law and now works both as an employment solicitor and as a director of an investment business.

Married to Peter with three children all currently at Elstree Liz has a keen interest in mountain pursuits and sports in general.

Mr J.A.J. Vincent  ^{1, 4}

Johnny lives in Upper Woolhampton, within a stone’s throw of Elstree and four of his children have attended the school.

He attended Bradfield College and the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester and qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1987. He has followed a career in property, initially in an agency capacity and in 1992 established his own business as an investor and developer in the commercial real estate sector, specialising in offices in the M25 region, the City of London and Cambridge.

Johnny is married to Emma, who is a year 3 Teaching Assistant; he loves sport, especially sailing , tennis and cricket – and occasional golf.

Mr C. Houston

Profile to follow

Mr T. Robertson

Profile to follow

^1. Member of the Finance & General Purposes Committee
^2. Member of the Academic Committee
^3. Member of the Pastoral & Safeguarding Committee
^4. Member of the Marketing Committee
^5. Member of the Health & Safety Committee