Michael Wheeler

As an avid lifelong learner myself, I believe I would not be where I am today in my career and life without the support and encouragement provided by adult education. I left school at 16 with very few qualifications and was advised to become a dinner lady because of the low expectations imposed on me by others.

I’m proud to say that a spark of self-belief grew into something powerful. After gaining my qualifications and taking creative courses to support my mental well-being and build my confidence, I began to flourish — thanks to adult education.

As a result, I owned my first jazz restaurant in my 20s, became one of the youngest college principals in London in my 30s, and became an author in my 40s. I could not have achieved any of this without adult education.

Previous Principals/CEOs

Elena Diaconescu

There is no biographical profile of the Head of Adult Learning on the College's website. This one is from Elena's now deactivated LinkedIn Profile.

Inspiring and highly motivational manager with established track record of performance management and quality improvements. Elena has managed a wide range of curriculum areas and has a good overview of leadership and management, funding methodologies, and observation of teaching learning and assessment. She is passionate about high quality teaching and is committed to good continuing professional development. She focussed on quality and performance systems and improved specific areas deemed as needed improvement. She has an excellent understanding of data with highly developed analytical and evaluative skills.

Remit areas: Ofsted nominee, Designated Safeguarding Person, Learners with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LLDD), English, Maths, GCSEs and English for Speakers of Others Languages (ESOL).