Strategy behaviour S6
Focus on the Main Thing
Busy is not the same as progress. Choose the one priority that will make the biggest difference and protect it from the daily whirlwind.
Jump to S6 resources ↓What this behaviour looks like
If everything matters, nothing does
A leader names the one priority with the greatest impact, breaks it into clear key results and says what will stop to make room. Meetings, time and resources then line up behind it, so staff, pupils and families hear the same main thing.
A practical example
Planning the spring term
Everything matters“This term we'll launch the new curriculum, improve attendance, overhaul behaviour and boost staff wellbeing.”
One main thing“This term our main thing is reading fluency, because it opens up every subject. We are pausing the homework review to make time, and every staff meeting will start with how our readers are doing.”
Reading fluency, because it opens up every subject.
Pause the homework review to free time for reading.
Open every staff meeting with how readers are doing.
Name your main thing in one sentence, choose one task to stop or delegate this week, and check how much of your diary the priority actually gets.
S6 · Resources for your setting
Put ‘Focus on the Main Thing’ into practice
Develop your own practice or lead the learning with your team. Use the chapter and workbook to explore the behaviour, then choose the resources that fit your next step.
Apply · Your leadership practice
Put it to work
Use the S6 Playbook to turn the behaviour into practical action on a real leadership challenge.
- Practical toolkit and coaching prompts
- A practice script to rehearse your approach
- A 90-day plan to guide your next steps
Members only · Explore membership →
Apply · Learning with your team
Lead a team session
Use the S6 INSET PowerPoint to help colleagues explore the behaviour and plan how to put it into practice.
- Editable slides to adapt to your setting
- Speaker notes to support facilitation
- Discussion, rehearsal and planning
Members only · Explore membership →
Completed Playbooks
See S6 applied in eight leadership contexts
Choose your role to explore the challenge, the leader’s response and the intended result. Members can read the complete example and download an editable Word copy.
In a primary school
In a secondary school
Across schools
Selected completed example
In a primary school · Headteacher
Fluent reading by the end of Year 2
Martin · Headteacher · 430-pupil two-form-entry primary school
Worked example at a glance
Fluent reading by the end of Year 2
The challengeOnly 51% of disadvantaged Year 2 pupils read an age-appropriate passage fluently, against 69% of the year group, while three other credible projects compete for attention.
What the leader doesThe headteacher names fluent reading as the one focus until July, calibrates a single routine with every Reception to Year 2 adult, protects ten minutes of daily practice and replaces two reading records with one log.
What success looks likeBy day 30 ten-minute practice should be timetabled for every priority pupil; by day 60 every class should improve, with disadvantaged fluency at least 65%; by day 90 the school should be on track for 85% overall and 75% disadvantaged.
Rowan · Deputy Headteacher for curriculum and assessment · 360-pupil junior school
Worked example at a glance
Independent writing stamina
The challengeOnly 44% of pupils in Years 3 to 6 can plan, sustain and edit a piece of writing without adult steering, and three credible projects want the same leadership capacity.
What the leader doesThe deputy headteacher pauses the feedback-policy rewrite, removes a duplicate writing upload, calibrates what genuine independence looks like and protects a fortnightly sustained writing slot in every class.
What success looks likeBy day 30 every class should have its fortnightly writing slot timetabled; by day 60 every year group should improve, with school success at least 60%; by day 90 the school should be on track for 70%, with every year above 60%.
Keira · PE and Health Lead and Year 4 teacher · 610-pupil three-form-entry primary school
Worked example at a glance
Purposeful lunchtime activity
The challengeOnly 38% of pupils are purposefully active at lunchtime and girls in Years 5 and 6 are least likely to join in, while a scheme rewrite and new clubs also compete for time.
What the leader doesThe PE lead chooses lunchtime activity over a scheme rewrite, hears less-active pupils separately and trials two pupil-designed zones with trained pupil leaders, keeping a quiet choice and existing duty capacity.
What success looks likeBy day 30 a safely supervised two-zone trial should be running; by day 60 participation should reach 50%, with the target group up by half; by day 90 participation should reach 60% and target-group participation should double.
Jonathan · Headteacher · ages 11 to 16 secondary school, 1,180 pupils
Worked example at a glance
Year 11 attendance before examinations
The challengeYear 11 attendance is 89.4%, 74 pupils are persistently absent and support reaches them from four directions at once, while two funded projects also compete for time.
What the leader doesThe headteacher pauses the teaching-framework launch and dashboard replacement, gives each of the 74 pupils one named adult and a shared plan, and asks faculties to make return academically manageable.
What success looks likeBy day 30 every duplicate plan should be closed; by day 60 seven in ten pupils with a plan should sustain improved attendance for four weeks; by day 90 attendance should track towards 93%, with persistent absence below 50 pupils.
Paul · Deputy Headteacher for teaching and professional learning · ages 11 to 16 secondary school, 1,060 pupils
Worked example at a glance
Reliable checks for understanding
The challengeOnly 46% of sampled lessons include a reliable check for understanding, and faculty variation means a pupil's experience depends on their timetable.
What the leader doesThe deputy headteacher pauses a platform purchase and broad marking review, calibrates what a reliable check looks like and has departments rehearse subject-suited techniques with coaching, without mandating one routine.
What success looks likeBy day 30 every department should have rehearsal scheduled and coaching under way; by day 60 at least 70% of lessons should show broad evidence and a responsive change; by day 90 the school should reach 80%, with every faculty at 70%.
Mariam · Head of Year 7 · ages 11 to 18 secondary school, 1,520 pupils
Worked example at a glance
Belonging and attendance in Year 7
The challengeYear 7 attendance is 91.8% and more than a quarter of pupils say no adult in school knows them, while rewards and clubs projects also want attention.
What the leader doesThe head of year pauses the rewards rewrite and club expansion, runs a private trusted-adult check, has tutors rehearse a weekly check-in and makes sure tutors hand specialist cases on rather than holding them alone.
What success looks likeBy day 30 every tutor should have rehearsed the weekly check-in; by day 60 emerging attendance patterns should get family contact, with school actions closed within five days; by day 90 attendance should track to 94%.
Lucia · Head of Modern Foreign Languages · ages 11 to 16 secondary school, 870 pupils
Worked example at a glance
Sustained unrehearsed speaking
The challengeOnly 31% of Key Stage 3 pupils can sustain an unrehearsed spoken response beyond one sentence, and four defensible priorities compete for the department's time.
What the leader doesThe head of languages pauses the scheme rewrite and platform proposal, calibrates audio examples across French and Spanish, and introduces two brief weekly speaking routines with thinking time and accessible participation.
What success looks likeBy day 30 every class should have started the speaking routines; by day 60 at least 55% of pupils should sustain speech and every class improve; by day 90 the department should reach 65%, with every class at 55%.
Vanessa · Trust Director of School Improvement · ten-school trust
Worked example at a glance
One trust priority for attendance
The challengeFour credible priorities compete for trust capacity, disadvantaged attendance is 88.1% with a six-point spread between schools, and headteachers have heard trust priorities announced before.
What the leader doesThe director makes disadvantaged attendance the single ninety-day priority, stops a duplicate central return, brokers support into the three weakest schools and reviews school-level data monthly so no average hides a failure.
What success looks likeBy day 30 every school should have a validated baseline, named owner and stopped-work decision; by day 60 the three weakest schools should improve priority-cohort attendance by 1.5 points; by day 90 attendance should be on track for 92%.
The complete Playbook is for members
Turn this example into action
Read the full toolkit, coaching and practice scripts, and 90-day plan. Members can view the PDF here and download an editable Word copy.
Resources for this behaviour
Templates and checklists from the resource library that put S6 into practice.
Further reading
Recommended book
Good to Great – Jim Collins (2001)
This text deepens your understanding by exploring how clarity of purpose enables organisations to prioritise what matters most and ignore distractions.
References from the Everyone Succeeds book
- Lencioni, P.M. (2012) The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Buy on Amazon ↗
- Doerr, J. (2018) Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs. New York: Portfolio/Penguin. Buy on Amazon ↗
- Covey, S.R. (1989) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. New York: Free Press. Buy on Amazon ↗
- Pounds, W.F. (1965) The Process of Problem Finding. Working Paper 148-65. Cambridge, MA: Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Read free ↗
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