You have chosen your CBA approach. Today you turn that choice into a plan you can actually finish: a clear scope, a few milestones, and the first piece of real work started. You will not finish the CBA today. You will leave with a plan and something underway that you can reopen next time.

A good CBA plan answers three questions before you build or curate anything:

• What exactly am I making or collecting? One clear sentence.
• What will I have done by each checkpoint? Three milestones written so someone else could tell if you hit them.
• What could go wrong, and what is the backup? One risk and one simple backup.

Scope means cutting as much as adding. If a feature or an extra portfolio piece would make the plan unrealistic, leave it out now and note it as a stretch idea for later.

Sample: software project

Scope: A micro:bit classroom temperature logger that shows the reading on the LED screen and saves values over a lesson.

M1–M3: sensors working → logging and download working → tested with one classmate, documented and packaged.

Risk: micro:bit not available → use the online simulator and note the swap.

Sample: portfolio

Scope: Four pieces (Arcade game, website, Python list program, one studio build), each with a short learning note.

M1–M3: three pieces in one folder → short learning notes for each → checked as finished, tested and documented, then packaged cleanly.

Risk: a file is missing → rebuild a small version from notes, or swap in another saved build.

Before you write your own plan: open one piece of earlier work you already have (a saved game, website, micro:bit or Python file, or your portfolio folder if it exists). Leave it on screen so you can see what you are building on.

Start a new one-page document the class way (one shared plan per project team; one each for portfolio students). Give it the headings below, fill them in, and save it the class way.

Sentence frame if you need it: I am making/collecting [specific product] that [one main behaviour or contents]. Example: "I am making a two-level Arcade chase game with a score and a lose condition."

Must finish in this block:

• Path. Write project or portfolio at the top.
• 1. One-sentence scope. State exactly what you are making or collecting. If you cannot say it in one sentence, the scope is still too wide. Cut until you can.
• 2. Evidence I already have. List the saved work you can draw on (game, website, micro:bit programs, Python files, earlier investigations). Note anything missing that you will need to rebuild or gather.
• 3. Three milestones. Write three checkpoints from today through to the presentation. Use the CBA dates on the board. For each one, write what "done" looks like in plain words. If you need a model, write them the way the scope sentence above is written: short, and specific enough that someone else could tell whether you hit it. You can add a stretch milestone later after you have started building.