Plan the start of school: a little science, then English (6)
I believe the answer is:
scheme
'plan' is the definition.
(I know that scheme is a type of plot)
'start of school a little science then english' is the wordplay.
'start of' suggests taking the first letters.
'a little science' becomes 'chem' (short for chemistry).
'then' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
The first letter of 'school' is 's'.
's'+'chem'+'e'='SCHEME'
'the' is the link.
(Other definitions for scheme that I've seen before include "Systematic of crafty plan of action" , "System or strategy" , "Plan, ruse" , "Plan - intrigue" , "'Plot, plan (6)'" .)