My Fellowship experience in Chicago has been life-changing. It inspired me to continue in senior leadership and more recently I have taken some time out to complete a master's degree in educational leadership and to conduct my own research. I have specialised in the hidden impact and potential of a school's culture on how it performs and how it could be used to enable sustainable improvement. I am continuing my own research into this and I presently work with a trust that specialises in turning around schools in areas of deprivation which have been judged as 'unsatisfactory' by Ofsted.

I have maintained my links with Chicago and the evidence I found there has been a real source of inspiration in my academic explorations. I was invited as a keynote speaker at the Lasallian headteachers' conference in 2014 and I have worked with schools to help them to reflect on their own culture and barriers to learning. This then allows staff and leaders to recapture the vision for their school and bring staff together in a spirit of genuine collaboration. As my Fellowship experience showed me, even in the most challenging of contexts education can transform all of our lives.