Principal of troubled LeSoCo college quits

LeSoCo – which was formed from the merger of Lewisham College and Southwark College – was last month criticised by Ofsted who found that there had been 'insufficient improvement' since the college received an 'inadequate' rating in January.

The college recently received planning permission for the second phase of major works at its Waterloo campus in The Cut, including the development of homes on part of the site to help fund new educational facilities.

This week the college's board of governors issued a statement announcing the retirement of Maxine Room CBE, principal and chief executive officer of LeSoCo.

"LeSoCo is today announcing that after five years as Principal of Lewisham and then LeSoCo, Maxine Room CBE has decided that at the end of this academic year she will retire from her post as Principal and CEO, although she intends to remain active in the FE sector," said the governors in their statement.

"Maxine led the successful merger between Lewisham College and Southwark College and has led on the transformation of both colleges into one vibrant, ambitious and enterprising college -

"LeSoCo. The governing body is very grateful for the commitment, passion and leadership that Maxine has shown during her time as principal.

"We will now begin the search for Maxine's successor, who we hope to have in place by the beginning of the 2014/2015 academic year."