When Behaviour and Curriculum Join Up

Teach the start and the model so routines support thinking rather than compete with it.

Challenge

Behaviour policies and curriculum plans lived in separate folders, so classrooms saw mixed signals and avoidable variation.

Result

Shared starts and model formats aligned behaviour expectations with the way content was taught, reducing noise and freeing attention.

Outcome

Calmer rooms, clearer explanations and more time on task across subjects.

Innovation

A short operating system that named routines, model banks for explanations and five‑minute visits with one keep and one try.

Brief overview

Behaviour and curriculum are two sides of the same coin. We made the start predictable and the model clear so expectations were enacted in teaching, not just in posters.

Mechanisms that move practice

Teachers used the same retrieval start and moved to a model with agreed features. Leaders visited short slices and left specific notes. Departments shared exemplar models.

Human moments that matter

A new colleague copied the model and saw pupils settle. A pupil who usually waited found the first step obvious and began to work. Families recognised the routine across subjects.

Keeping workload net zero

Templates and shared models reduced reinvention. Notes were short and useful. Meetings focused on improving exemplars rather than writing policies.

Evidence and alignment

We sampled time on task during the first five minutes, looked at model clarity in books and tracked the need for resets. Pupil voice captured confidence.

Impact

Starts were calmer, modelling improved and pupils moved to independent practice sooner.

Lessons for leaders and investors

• Name and teach the start.
• Agree model features and share exemplars.
• Visit five‑minute slices often.
• Measure signals that classrooms feel.

Full Article

What this means for school leaders and investors

When Behaviour and Curriculum Join Up is a reminder that behaviour is the curriculum's delivery system. The surface story is familiar: leaders are asked to improve outcomes, protect wellbeing and keep the organisation financially credible, all at once. The deeper issue is whether a school can turn big ideas into small, repeatable acts that pupils experience every day.

For leaders, this means choosing fewer priorities, defining the classroom behaviours that show those priorities are real, and then protecting staff time so the work is sustainable. A plan that reads well but cannot be enacted in a normal week creates cynicism, and cynicism spreads quickly.

For boards and investors, the best question is not 'Do we have a strategy?' but 'Do we have a routine?'. Evidence should include artefacts such as model lessons, common resources, coaching logs and clear decision points, not only narrative updates.

Full narrative expansion

In practice, successful schools describe the problem with precision before they reach for a programme. They agree what will improve, for whom, and how they will know. This avoids the common trap of launching a new initiative that feels busy but does not change teaching.

The strongest narratives are not heroic. They are operational. Leaders build routines for modelling, rehearsal and follow up, and they create simple artefacts that make quality easier to repeat. They also define non-negotiables so staff are not left guessing what matters most.

This is where a practical lens is helpful. It asks: what does the teacher do at 8.55 on a wet Tuesday? What do pupils do? What do leaders look at in the first five minutes of a visit? If those answers are clear, the rest of the story is likely to hold.

What changed in practice

Behaviour systems work when they are taught like curriculum: explicitly, repeatedly and with calm consistency. The strongest work focused on three areas: a shared retrieval start that all teachers used, agreed features for modelling new content, and five-minute leadership visits with specific feedback. Each area used light artefacts and short review loops. When those three elements were clear, behaviour and curriculum stopped competing and started reinforcing each other. The approach aligns with DfE guidance on behaviour in schools, Ofsted curriculum research reviews and EEF implementation guidance. Leaders can sample time on task in the first five minutes, check model clarity in books, track reset frequency and survey pupils on confidence. Those signals reveal whether behaviour and curriculum are joined without imposing heavy observation regimes.

Human moments that built the culture

A teacher new to the school copied the retrieval start from a colleague and saw pupils settle immediately. A pupil who usually hesitated found the first step of the model obvious and began working confidently. A parent recognised the same routine across subjects and felt their child was experiencing coherent teaching. A leader visited a five-minute slice, left one keep and one try note, and the teacher refined practice the next day. These moments show that behaviour and curriculum work together when routines are clear, shared and taught deliberately.

Results: what shifted

Time on task in the first five minutes improved measurably across subjects. Model clarity in books showed consistent features and pupils moved to independent practice sooner. Reset frequency reduced because expectations were clearer and taught rather than assumed. Pupil surveys revealed higher confidence in knowing what to do at the start of lessons. Staff reported that shared routines reduced variation and made behaviour management feel fairer. Families noticed consistency across teachers. The cost was minimal because the work simplified existing systems rather than adding complexity.

Workload stayed manageable

Shared retrieval starts used templates rather than bespoke planning. Model banks provided exemplars that teachers could adapt rather than create from scratch. Five-minute visits replaced lengthy observations. Feedback notes were short and specific rather than narrative. Meetings focused on refining exemplars rather than writing new policies. The result was a system that improved behaviour and curriculum without adding hours to planning or preparation.

Evidence that moves boards and inspectors

Leaders presented time-on-task data from the first five minutes showing improvement over time. They sampled books for model clarity and consistency of features. Reset data revealed whether behaviour expectations were working. Pupil voice captured confidence in knowing what was expected. Inspection visits saw the shared starts and modelling routines in action across multiple classrooms. Governors received short case studies with artefacts rather than lengthy behaviour policies. The evidence was credible because it came from daily practice rather than abstract frameworks.

Sources and further reading

Selected links to expand on the themes in this article.

• Behaviour in schools (DfE)
• Ofsted curriculum research reviews (Ofsted)
• Research review series: mathematics (Ofsted)
• Research review series: English (Ofsted)
• A School's Guide to Implementation (EEF and IEE UCL)