Brain Boss: Planning & Prioritising – Executive Function Lesson

How do I make better plans?

This engaging, ready-to-teach Executive Function lesson helps pupils develop the skills of planning, prioritising, breaking down tasks, estimating time and working towards deadlines.

Rather than simply telling pupils to “be more organised” or “plan ahead”, the lesson explicitly teaches them how to do it through practical, relatable scenarios and activities.

Pupils meet the Brain Boss and learn how to turn an overwhelming list of jobs into a realistic, manageable plan.

Pupils will learn to:
Understand what planning and prioritising mean
Recognise the difference between a to-do list and a plan
Decide what is important and urgent
Prioritise competing tasks
Break large or overwhelming tasks into smaller steps
Put steps into a logical order
Estimate how long tasks might take
Work backwards from a deadline
Identify resources needed before starting
Adapt a plan when something unexpected happens
Create a realistic plan for a task in their own life
Activities include:
The 10-Minute Disaster – deciding what needs doing first
The Birthday Party Problem – Must Do, Should Do or Could Do?
The Priority Sort
Big Task Panic
The LEGO Challenge – putting steps into a logical order
How Long Will It Take? – estimating time
The Deadline Trap
Plan Backwards
Expect the Unexpected
Rescue the Disaster – creating Freddie’s evening plan
Brain Boss Planning Toolkit
Personal planning challenge
Reflection and exit ticket
Brain Boss colouring activity
Core message:

DECIDE WHAT MATTERS.
MAKE A PLAN.
START WITH THE NEXT STEP.

Ideal for PSHE, wellbeing, SEND, executive functioning, intervention, tutor time, pastoral lessons and classroom skills.

The resource is designed to be practical, visual and accessible, helping pupils develop planning strategies they can actually use at school and at home. It is a stand alone lesson or lesson 6 of the Brain Boss series.