Behaviour and expectations are uneven across the school. Some subject areas operate with calm, predictable routines, while others struggle to sustain consistency, particularly under pressure.

Poor behaviour is limiting academic progress in classrooms where learning time is lost, expectations are unclear, or disruption goes unchallenged. Staff confidence varies, and pupils experience mixed messages about what is acceptable.

The risk is not crisis, but erosion. Over time, inconsistency increases workload, undermines trust, and limits improvement elsewhere.

Year 1 focus: Establishing consistency and credibility

Phase 0. Senior leaders set direction (May to early June)

Senior leaders complete the Leadership Behaviour Review first and use it alongside lived experience to identify inconsistency in leadership practice as a core limiting factor.

Discussion reveals that:

• expectations are clear but not enacted reliably,
• follow-up varies between teams,
• leadership responses change under pressure.

Using the five-step decision process, senior leaders agree a small, disciplined set of behaviours to prioritise, ensuring clarity and intent before the framework is introduced more widely.

Foundational leadership behaviours

These behaviours are treated as non-negotiable. Because they are not yet secure, they also become an explicit focus.

• C4: Maintain consistency Without consistent follow-through, no other improvement work will stick.
• L1: Lead by example Staff confidence depends on what leaders model, reinforce, and tolerate.
• L8: Don’t drop the ball Inconsistent follow-up is currently visible to staff and is undermining trust.

These behaviours are reinforced explicitly throughout the year and revisited frequently.

Whole-school focus behaviours (Year 1)

Senior leaders select two additional behaviours that directly support consistency.

• C3: Establish routines To reduce variation and cognitive load for staff and pupils.
• L4: Make it happen To ensure decisions translate into action rather than intention.

These behaviours are chosen deliberately to simplify leadership practice, not add new initiatives.

How Year 1 unfolds in practice

Phase 1 and Phase 2. Build shared understanding before change (June to September)

Leaders deepen their understanding of the chosen behaviours before being asked to plan or evaluate change.

They draw on the book and workbook to build conceptual understanding of each behaviour and reflect on how it currently shows up in their own leadership practice.

They use the leadership behaviour toolkits to work through structured guidance that breaks each behaviour down into concrete leadership actions, helping leaders think carefully about how the behaviour is enacted in real school contexts.

They also use the Coach and Practice sheets to rehearse specific scenarios in advance, practise responses, and receive feedback. This deliberate practice supports skill development rather than reliance on instinct or experience alone.

Discussion during this phase focuses on:

• what consistency looks like in everyday leadership practice,
• where routines and expectations break down,
• how leaders’ actions unintentionally contribute to variation.

What leaders practise

• explicitly teaching and reinforcing routines (C3: Establish routines)
• responding to the same behaviour in the same way across subject areas (C4: Maintain consistency)
• modelling reliability, visibility, and calm follow-through (L1: Lead by example; L8: Don’t drop the ball)
• removing blockers and converting decisions into action (L4: Make it happen)

There are no diagnostics, plans, or targets at this stage. The priority is shared understanding and professional judgement.

Phase 3. Senior leaders model under pressure (September to October)

Senior leaders deliberately model the chosen behaviours in every aspect of their role, including:

• meetings and briefings,
• line management and coaching conversations,
• corridor interactions,
• responses to pupils,
• informal conversations with colleagues,
• and decision-making under pressure.

Consistency is not just discussed, it is demonstrated, particularly when time is tight, emotions are high, or expectations are challenged.

This phase establishes trust. Leaders are far more open to reflection and diagnostics once they have seen behaviours enacted consistently in real, everyday situations.

Phase 4. Diagnostics and deeper sense-making (October to November)

With lived experience in place, diagnostics now have meaning.

Leaders complete:

• the self diagnostic,
• the 360 diagnostic,
• the combined report.

Leaders interpret the results alongside recent experience, revisiting relevant workbook sections, leadership behaviour toolkits, and Coach and Practice sheets to deepen understanding of behaviours highlighted by the data.

The purpose of diagnostics at this stage is insight, not judgement.

Phase 5. First personalised 90-day development cycle (December to March)

Leaders identify a real leadership challenge they are currently facing and clarify:

• the outcome they are trying to achieve,
• the behaviours that will most help them achieve it.

From this, leaders select a small number of relevant leadership behaviours and build a focused 90-day plan that includes:

• specific actions linked to those behaviours,
• opportunities to rehearse responses using realistic scenarios,
• agreed lead measures to track progress,
• structured reflection and review.

What leaders practise

• rehearsing challenging conversations before they occur,
• practising consistent responses to predictable behaviour scenarios,
• seeking targeted feedback on follow-through, credibility, and impact.

Leadership behaviour toolkits and Coach and Practice sheets now become the primary vehicles for action, supporting rehearsal, feedback, and habit formation.

Looking ahead: Year 2 and Year 3

Year 2 focus: Building shared ownership

By the end of Year 1, behaviour is calmer and more predictable. The risk shifts from inconsistency to dependency on senior leaders.

Likely focus behaviours include:

• T4: Create a team, to build shared responsibility,
• L10: Pass the baton, to distribute leadership more widely.

Year 3 focus: Raising the ceiling

Consistency is secure and no longer the limiting factor.

Likely focus behaviours include:

• S5: Establish collective goals, to sharpen alignment,
• S8: Find the lead measures, to move from compliance to impact.

Each year builds deliberately on the last. Nothing is reset.

Common mistakes in this scenario

• Treating behaviour as a policy issue rather than a leadership practice.
• Moving on too quickly once things improve.
• Adding new priorities before habits are secure.

Why this approach works

This model:

• prioritises credibility before complexity,
• uses time deliberately rather than urgently,
• develops leadership skill through rehearsal, not intention,
• and builds leadership capacity year on year.

Foundational behaviours are never assumed. When they are weak, they are the work.