Title

LEADERSHIP

From district to unitary: Lessons in leadership and place

Shifting to unitary leadership offers new insights on scale, place, and people, says Catherine Howe. She emphasises the need to protect the district superpower to think about place in a granular way that is hugely valuable.

By Dr Catherine Howe | 12 September 2025

One luxury of a new role is the chance to learn about a new organisation and reassess the assumptions you arrived with.

I've just made the shift from district to unitary leadership and here are some of the things I am learning and unlearning.

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