(CC) licensed:susan_w

Nobody plans to have a crisis but you can be prepared

This Crisis Management Media Training Workshop is designed specifically for Headteachers, Deputy Headteachers and School Governors.

It is aimed at schools which may be faced with a media crisis at very short notice. It is also appropriate for longer-term crises.

It is designed to act as a "firewall" or "firescreen" for both the council and schools to help avoid potential crises such as the bad publicity arising from recent incidents such as the suicide of a young boy who was being bullied or the aftermath of a school coach crash during school holidays.

We will focus on the need for availability at all times (ie someone from the school to be available for comment at all times, including weekends, school holidays and "out of hours") and provide the skills for a front line media response in times of crisis.

We will use case studies (such as the school coach crash in Austria involving schoolchildren) to show how potential crises can be avoided-sometimes simply by having a media trained spokesperson available for immediate comment.

This Workshop is a one-day course, lasting approximately eight hours and is designed for a maximum of six participants.

The programme is divided into two-a theory based early morning session followed by a more hands-on, practical, late morning and early afternoon session. Using video playback analysis, we ask you to take part in real life Press, Radio and Television interviews.

It has been tailored to meet the needs of headteachers and school governors within schools in crisis management situations.

It will cover a range of severe crises ranging from a school coach crash abroad, or the consequences of alleged school bullying, to a swimming pool accident, where a child has drowned while staff were watching.

It will also cover other issues which the media often highlight, such as exclusion, truancy and Ofsted

It will prepare you for almost every eventuality connected to any severe crisis issue as well as give you a structure and set of tools to conduct successful media relations in future.

We will prepare you for every possible angle of enquiry, relating education issues, with an emphasis on requests from broadcast media-ie radio and television.