Y6. Prioritise what matters toolkit
Toolkit
Leadership will always produce more demands than time. This toolkit helps you identify what truly drives impact in your role and build the discipline to focus your energy on the work that matters most.
| Clarify your big rocks |
| List the three or four priorities that, if achieved, would make the most significant difference to your school this term. These are your “big rocks.” Everything else should fit around them. Be specific, as these should be visible in your calendar, not just in your head. |
| Audit your week |
| Look back at the past seven days. How much time did you spend on high-impact work, and how much on urgent but low-value tasks? Notice the patterns. This simple audit often reveals how easily priorities can become displaced by busyness. |
| Define your deep work |
| Identify the type of work that requires your complete focus and strategic attention, for example, curriculum design, staff development, data analysis, or coaching. Decide when in the week you’re at your best for this kind of thinking and block time accordingly. Protect it fiercely. |
| Use the matrix |
| Map your current tasks using the Eisenhower Matrix. What can you do now: schedule, delegate, or delete? Seeing this visually can be liberating as it highlights where you need to let go and where your time adds the most value. |
| Practice saying no |
| Reflect on the last few times you said yes when you should have said no. What made it hard? How could you respond differently next time? Practice explicit, kind refusals that align with your values and priorities. Boundaries are a sign of focus, not avoidance. |
| Reflect on alignment |
| At the end of each week, ask: did my time match my priorities? If not, what distracted me? The goal is not perfection but awareness. Over time, this reflection helps you lead from purpose rather than pressure. |
| Reflection prompts |
| Where does most of my time currently go? What would my calendar look like if it reflected my true priorities? Which tasks or habits could I delegate or drop? When am I most likely to confuse urgency with importance? How can I protect more time for deep, meaningful work? |
Y6. Prioritise what matters: example toolkit
Role: Deputy Headteacher
| Clarify your big rocks |
| My big rocks this term are lesson consistency, vulnerable attendance, middle leadership development, and staff wellbeing. I will block visible time for each of them. |
| Audit your week |
| Last week was mostly firefighting. I will audit every Friday and decide what to delegate or delay. |
| Define your deep work |
| I will protect two ninety-minute morning focus blocks for high-value tasks and ensure colleagues respect these slots. |
| Use the matrix |
| I will sort tasks using the Eisenhower Matrix and remove urgent, low-value demands where I can. |
| Practice saying no |
| I will use kind, purposeful nos that protect my focus on attendance and core priorities. |
| Reflect on alignment |
| Each Friday, I will ask whether my time matched my priorities and adjust the following week. |
| Intended Impact |
| Noise will drop, focus will rise, and projects will move at pace. We will stop equating busyness with effectiveness. |