The document is about a presentation given to school principals on directly supporting schools through communication strategies. It discusses three key points:
1) Why direct school support is important - communication departments that don't focus on school needs can be cut when budgets are tight, while those that support schools are seen as essential.
2) How to find time to prioritize school needs - by leveraging resources across schools and focusing communications on student learning rather than promotional materials.
3) Everyday practices that support schools - examples include crisis planning templates, quality response strategies, and focusing publications on practical learning strategies rather than promotional messages.
3. Never Say No to a
Principal
Proven, Powerful Tools to Directly Support
Schools—and Boost Student Success
NSPRA Pre-Seminar
June 28, 2009
4. Brian Woodland, APR
Director, Communications and Strategic Partnerships
Support Services
Peel District School Board
5650 Hurontario St.
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
L5R 1C6
Brian.Woodland@peelsb.com
905-890-1099
905-890-1112 (fax)
Visit www.peelschools.org
6. • Principals in Peel are unanimous in their
praise of the strong support and timely
advice they receive from the
Communications department.
Jim Grieve
Director of Education
Peel District School Board
7. • The communication department’s work is
focused on service to schools and their staff
Janet McDougald
Chair of the Board
Peel District School Board
8.
9. Class, this is your assignment…
• Write down your “ah has”
• Record the “to dos”
• Actually DO the “to dos”!
• Do a think/pair/share with your best ideas
and turn it into an interpretive dance for the
whole group to see
10.
11. Talk to the person next to you:
• share role and district
• how long in the role?
•What does it really mean to directly serve
schools?
12.
13. About “Grounding”:
• an inclusion activity
• sets norms for humour, participation
• brings people into the present
• demonstrates value for others
• gets brains in the room—focuses mental energy
14.
15. Peel District School Board
is one of the largest school
Caledon boards in Canada
Brampton
P eel T o ro n to
Mississauga
16. Who we are
Peel Region
• community of 1.2 million people
• three municipalities--Brampton, Caledon,
Mississauga
• urban and rural
• immediately west of Toronto
17. Who we are
Peel District School Board
• second largest school district in Canada
• 232 schools
• 153,000 students
• 20,000 permanent and casual staff
18.
19. Who we are
Peel District School Board
• one of only a few school districts in Ontario
that are growing
• 3,000 - 5,000 new students each year
• build an average of four to six new schools
each year
20.
21. Who we are
Peel District School Board
• 1 in 2 new students new to Canada
• over past three years, registered 10,000
students new to Canada in past three years
• 90% of newcomer families don’t speak or
read English
• 47% of student population speaks language
other than English at home
22. Who we are
Communications and Strategic
Partnerships Support Services
• director —assistant superintendent level
• senior manager
• two communications officers
• school communications specialist
•graphic designer
•three secretaries
•one community liaison coordinator
•three board reporters
23. What we do..
Communications and Strategic
Partnerships Support Services
• all the stuff you do!
• major special events
• publications
• proactive and reactive media relations
•communications planning
•crisis and issues management
•web
•But all focussed on the work of schools
24. Who we are
Communications and Strategic
Partnerships Support Services
• cross-functional
• no one in special events ghetto
• all do all
• meet each week
•focus on schools an expectation
•key “look for” in interview
•principal on interview team
•will work with a “team” of one—really!
38. Three questions we will answer
•Why does direct school support matter?
•How can you possibly find time to “never say no”?
•What are everyday practices/structures/samples
and strategies that help you to focus directly on the
needs of schools?
40. Why does it matter...
•Some people get along quite nicely it seems by
barely acknowledging that schools exist
•Work on important stuff like “district image”
•Produce mucho paper
•Seem adored by superintendent and board
•Until...
41.
42. When the oasis dries up the
animals look at each other
differently
43. C a lif o r n ia s c h o o ls g ir d
f o r la y o f f s
S c h w a r z e n e g g e r ' s b u d g e t c a lls f o r a b o u t $ 4 . 8 b illio n in e d u c a t io n f u n d in g c u t s .
E d u c a t o r s s a y it ' s t h e w o r s t f in a n c ia l c r is is t h e y c a n r e m e m b e r .
By Jason Song, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
The Long Beach school board voted to close an elementary school this week. The Rialto Unified
School District, in what is believed to be the first such action in the state this year, sent notices to 305
employees including teachers -- informing them that they may not have a job next fall. The San
Francisco school district may take city "rainy day" money to help balance its budget.
44. Why does it matter
•Some people get along quite nicely it seems by
barely acknowledging that schools exist
•Work on important stuff like “district image”
•Produce mucho paper
•Seem adored by superintendent and board
•Until they are cut from the budget along with
professional development when the going gets
tough...
45.
46.
47.
48. The BIG picture
What public relations can’t do--NSPRA
The 90-7-3 rule
•90 % of reputation is based on quality service
•7 % on listening
•3 % on telling
49. The BIG picture
It’s a simple rule to get good PR--
Always do a good job!
51. The Crisis Quiz
Who/what causes a school crisis?
Based on analysis of over 50,000 crisis news stories by
Institute for crisis management
Q: Which is more prevalent: - sudden crisis
- created crisis
A: Created. 68% are smoldering. No action until it
escalates out of control.
52. The Crisis Quiz
Who/what causes a school crisis?
Based on analysis of over 50,000 crisis news stories by
Institute for crisis management
Q: Who causes a crisis? - teachers
- parents
- school leadership
- students
A: 56% caused by management
53.
54. Hierarchy of Effective Communications
1. One-to-one, face-to-face
2. Small group discussion/meeting
3. Speaking before a large group
4. Phone conversation
5. Handwritten, personal note
6. Typewritten, personal letter not generated by computer
7. Computer generated or word-processing-generated “personal letter”
8. Mass-produced, non-personal letter
9. Brochure or pamphlet sent out as a “direct mail” piece
10. Article in organizational newsletter, magazine, tabloid
11. News carried in popular press
12. Advertising in newspapers, radio, TV, magazines, posters
13. Other less effective forms of communication (billboards, skywriters, etc.)
55.
56. •That means …
superintendent
and PR person
have less power
over public
image than does
the average
school secretary
or custodian
57. But wait, there’s more...
Our most experienced school
leaders...are on a beach somewhere
58.
59. Survey says
•75 % of school leaders
new in last 5 years
•level of experience has fallen to less
than 5 years
•many have never lived through a
crisis
60. Our role...
To support school leaders who must do
an already massive job with the added
difficulty of lack of experience—and the
absence of communications training
61. Three questions we will answer
•Why does direct school support matter?
•How can you possibly find time to “never say no”?
76. Only YOU can prevent career fires!
•Focussing on learning makes
you part of the district’s inner
circle and increases your
effectiveness
77. Oh yes—and the big “image” plan
won’t work. There is a key difference
between your communications plan
and …
78.
79. Only one of them is magic! Our
image is great when schools do well.
80. What we do..
And now presenting...
• our promotional video Peel, there’s no place
like it to learn
• our board promotional brochure
• our fridge magnet
•our bumper sticker
•our lollipop
•Or not
81.
82. Trust is like the air we breathe. When
it's present, nobody really notices.
But when it's absent, everybody
notices
Warren Buffet
Chairman and CEO
Berkshire Hathaway
83. Um, Brian, not to be pesky but this
sounds like more work !
84. Reputation building:
Do it now or pay later
--and keep paying!
• It takes nearly 4 years for a company to
rebuild a blemished reputation
Burson-Marsteller Building CEO Capital Survey
93. Experts agree…
29 studies over a 10-year period indicated that
the academic achievement of students in 91
per cent of the groups where parents were
involved in training programs was superior
to those of students in control groups
(Graue, Weinstein and Walberg)
What Works in Schools, Robert J. Marzano
94.
95. Planning the event
• Communications was involved in all
aspects and took specific responsibility for
the training of speakers, developing a
promotional plan and securing sponsorship.
98. Sad—but true
Not a single person will ever be heard
to say any of the following
“That newsletter changed my life.”
“Raise my taxes—I can’t survive without
the community magazine.”
“Please, cut my salary—but not the
newsletter!”
99.
100.
101.
102.
103. Not about adding more work
--really!
-do your job differently
-have a new focus
-alter definition of what’s important
-be more rewarding, fulfilling
-build foundation for good times, bad
times, and VERY bad times
-you do not get cut from
the budget!
104. Take time to save time
•Help them do it right—and you do not have to clean
up the mess
•Election guidelines stop problems before they
happen
•Help with “minefield issues” like email, web sites
•Similar during labour negotiations, bus disruptions,
107. Leveraging 101
•The budget speech becomes an article for school
newsletters, gets posted to the web, is a column in the
local paper
•The school letter on issue X (dangerous stranger,
disease, asbestos) becomes another one of 200
template letters in a Word folder by subject
•Welcome poster becomes book cover, decal, and
more
•Staff script/ Q and A is revised to be school council
script, school newsletter article etc.
108.
109. Three questions we will answer
•Why does direct school support matter?
•How can you possibly find time to “never say no”?
•What are everyday practices/structures/samples
and strategies that help you to focus directly on the
needs of schools?
110. How can we be school-centered
leaders?
5. Be leaders
111.
112. If you are not at the centre...
You can’t truly serve schools effectively
113. The unofficial org chart
“The Action”
• Decisions, interplay,
discussions, arguments Your role—take it and
communicate it as
directed. Period.
YOU
114.
115.
116. At the table in Peel
• On senior team
• on executive committee
• at in committee of board
• on contingency teams
• at director’s council
• part of the ‘learning side’ of the
organization
118. Ways to get to the table
___ become the organizational expert on crisis and crisis planning
__ when you attend, be prepared and insightful
__ find reasons to come to meetings
__ find a buddy
__ leverage successes
__ read and share
__ become a good predictor/issue watcher
__ always know the news
__ don’t take no for an answer
__ use other districts as rationale
Your ideas...
119. What is quality response?
•When things go wrong—what do we do at school
and education centre?
•If not our fault we are still judged
•It is at the core of reputation management
•Not just the “big bad” but also the “little bad”
120. Your goal…
To be the quality response leader in your
district for the small, medium, large and
overwhelmingly giant things that go
wrong
134. The good news…
It makes a difference
Look at this example—and find the
strategic counsellor and quality
response/change leader
135. How often are you the one to lead
people “around the leaf”?
136. Five greatest things “they” say to stop
from going around the leaf
5. We tried that once and it didn’t work
7. We’ve never done that before
9. Let’s just wait and see what happens
10. You are not actually a teacher--are you?
11. Nobody will ever find out
137. Leadership rules
•Can’t become an ‘instant leader’ in a crisis (unless
you play one on TV)
•Can’t just be you—team needs chances to lead (not
you do strategy—they do newsletters)
•Need to lead in positive and negative environments
(tsunami relief and crisis in same year)
•Leadership is not just defined by being on the
leadership team—but it is a good start!
138. A case in point—labour negotiations
5. Communication plan approved by board—places
communications in lead role
6. Internal audiences are key
7. Strategies for diverse audiences
8. Commitment to producing scripts and ready-
made templates for ALL school/home
communication
10. Only Communications decides what goes out
139. How can we be school-centered
leaders?
• Be leaders
• Focus on learning—therefore the operational
140. Do your own image audit—how many of
your publications are actually about
learning?
141. That means:
-no vanity messages
-no selling your district
-no using taxpayer money to tell them how well you
spend their money
-practical, plain language strategies to help improve
student success
142. Where's the smile within Peel?
•available on www.peelschool.org
•hanging on the walls of schools,
community centres, faith centres
•in every office
145. NOTICE OF PESTICIDE USE
Between June 1 to October 31, 2003 the Peel District School Board
will be conducting a larviciding program under the authority of the
Local Medical Officer of Health to control larval mosquitoes in
order to prevent their development into vectors of West Nile Virus.
The pellet formulation of the larvicide methoprene, altosid pellets
mosquito growth regulator (Pest Control Product Act No. 21809)
will be placed into catch basins of storm drains at Peel District
School Board school sites. All larvicide will be applied by Ministry
of the Environment licensed applicators or trained technicians. For
further details please call 905-890-1010 extension 2753. The Peel
District School Board is conducting the larvicide program in
accordance with the Region of Peel West Nile Virus Prevention &
Control Plan 2003.
146.
147.
148.
149.
150.
151.
152.
153.
154.
155.
156.
157.
158.
159.
160.
161.
162. Making my way
-good PR practice…based on research with
students, staff and parents
-materials are learning-focussed
-major web presence—virtual guidance office
www.makingmyway.ca
-package includes staff meeting scripts, FAQ,
ready-made presentations, DVD
-Communications drives process
166. How can we be school-centered
leaders?
• Be leaders
• Focus on learning—therefore the operational
• Demonstrate commitment to internal audiences
167.
168.
169.
170. •Check to see if plans are
done for major initiatives.
Ensure that plans include
Q and A documents and
place an emphasis on
internal audiences.
171. •Make sure all
plans include
specific strategy
and scripts for
frontline
secretaries!
172. Scripts for secretaries a key priority
• Might be as simple as “Thank you for your
call—our spokesperson is Brian Woodland,
let me give you his number”
• Could also be a standard answer such as
“We had a threatening prank call today and
police were called. The investigation found
that the call was a prank and the school is
safe—a letter is coming home today.”
174. From the top…
• The communications team in Peel is entirely
focused on promoting the hard work of students,
teachers and administrators in its 242 schools. On
any given week during the school year the
communications team sends out an average of 5 or
6 news releases that detail the amazing initiatives
throughout our system. Principals can count on
this strong promotional support at all times
Jim Grieve
Director of Education
Peel District School Board
175. Culture is a predominant force; you cannot NOT
be influenced by culture.
Source: Cultural Proficiency:
a manual for school leaders
176.
177. Making diversity communications part of
all planning
• encourage schools, staff to include diversity
communications in their plans
• include a diversity component in all board
communications plans
• get budget approval for upfront initiatives
DIVERSITY 17
178. • develop relationships with community
agencies, ethnic media
• encourage schools, staff to tell you about
their diversity initiatives
• provide advice to schools, staff on
translation and diversity issues
DIVERSITY 17
179.
180. Immunization reminder for parents
of grade 1 students available in 25
languages
•how to update your child's record
•how to access free immunization
clinics
181. More than 15 letters
and tip sheets
available in 25
languages:
•Help your child
succeed
•How the Peel board
teaches your child
English
•Keeping students
182. Top 25 Peel board languages
Punjabi Bengali
Urdu Tagalog
Tamil Serbian
Hindi Russian
Chinese (simplified) Polish
Chinese (traditional) Portuguese
Arabic Albanian
Vietnamese Croatian
Gujarati Malayalam
Spanish Telugu
Korean Greek
Persian/Farsi Somalian
Bengali Singhalese
191. From the top…
• As a high growth board, we welcome thousands of
new Canadians from all over the world yearly.
Brian and his staff continue to respond to our need
to communicate with this diverse community and
help schools engage with parents in their
children’s education. Parental involvement is
essential to achieving our system goal of student
success."
Janet McDougald
Chair of the Board
Peel District School Board
192.
193.
194. How can we be school-centered
leaders?
• Be leaders
• Focus on learning—therefore the operational
• Demonstrate commitment to internal audiences
• Treat schools as key clients
195. My best tip of the day…
The guaranteed way to help principals
with their work—make sure they have
less of it!
197. New e-mail guidelines for Peel staff and students
The Peel District School Board recognizes that e-mail is a valuable communication tool that is widely
used across our society. As a result, the board encourages staff and students to use e-mail to improve the
efficiency and effectiveness of communication both within the organization and with the broader
community.
Staff using e-mail to correspond with parents and students must use only the board's e-mail system to
receive or send e-mail.
The following are acceptable staff member to parent e-mail communications:
• General information about class activities – curriculum, homework, tests, special events
• Arrange for meeting/telephone call regarding a student issue including a general description of the
issue, e.g. "I would like to arrange a meeting to discuss your daughter's attendance."
• Follow-up on an issue that has previously been discussed.
E-mail should not be used by staff members to discuss:
• personal information about other students.
• specifics about a sensitive student issue which was not initiated by the parent or had not previously
been discussed with the parent.
• other staff.
• the staff member's performance.
• any sensitive student information that would normally be discussed face-to-face or by phone.
Please note that a staff member cannot make e-mail the only option for communicating with parents.
Similarly, neither a student nor a parent can demand that a staff member correspond via e-mail.
A new set of student e-mail guidelines
The board is also introducing a new set of guidelines for students. Parental consent for student use of
e-mail must be provided in addition to consent for student use of the internet.
Your child's school's Code of Conduct will specify the expectations regarding the use of e-mail and the
consequences of abuse. Students are responsible for all e-mail sent from their account. The board has the
right to access and disclose the contents of a student's e-mail messages.
199. Responding to e-mail overload
Common Sense e-mail Guidelines—Effective
November 19, 2002
• Documents of 5 paragraphs or less will be in the body of
the e-mail, not as an attachment. If there is a need to
attach an 'official' memo of less than 5 paragraphs, such
as a memo from the Ministry, then the memo text would
appear in the body of the e-mail and the line 'official
version attached' would be included.
200. Responding to e-mail overload
• The first paragraph of all e-mails will contain:
- the topic
- the expectation (action, info, etc.)
- the recipients
- the copied recipients
- the timeline
• The text of e-mails should differ from the text of a full,
written memo. It should be shorter, in bullet points with
key information at the front.
201. Responding to e-mail overload
• Longer attachments will be clearly labelled (not "memo"
or "info" or "see attached") in body of e-mail. Instead,
for example "Attached is a memo to all elementary
principals about xxx with a response deadline of xxx.
• All e-mails will have a clear subject in the subject line
(not "info" or "memo").
• E-mail subject should also include what is expected -
Action, FYI, Reminder, Response required by…
202. Responding to e-mail overload
• At the same time, multiple "Reminders" repeat
messages, etc. should stop. The responsibility will be on
the recipient to note the message the first time. If
reminders are required—to deal with Ministry deadlines
for example—then that will be made clear in the subject
line.
• Superintendents/Controllers and Directors in
departments and field offices will discuss with their staff
the requests going to schools in the week/month to come
and develop concrete ways to co-ordinate, simplify, and
combine information to eliminate and reduce the
volume.
203. Responding to e-mail overload
• Departments will look at other sources for information
flow including e-circular and Broadcast page.
• G.I.R. - Get It Right - the first time. Watch for "need for
speed" errors in e-mails that require a re-send.
• Multiple attachments should be bundled together as a
number of pages in a single attached document, rather
than as multiple documents. All items in the bundle
would be listed in the e-mail.
204. Responding to e-mail overload
• E-mail replies should be to the sender of the original
memo, or via hyperlink in the e-mail text.
• Mondays and Wednesdays will the days for an "E-
Mail Pause" only essential mass/multiple recipient e-
mails will be sent. This is a day for departments to
reduce the number of requests to be sent in the week
to come. This should not be a time to save e-mails
that are then sent in a giant burst on Tuesday!
205. Other ways to reduce work…
Do it for them!
-package centrally
-write centrally and provide
-have them help with major templates
206.
207. Other ways to reduce work…
Do it for them!
-package centrally
-write centrally and provide
-have them help with major templates
208.
209.
210. Other ways to reduce work…
Do it for them!
-package centrally
-write centrally and provide
-have them help with major templates
211. Major templates with writing
teams…
-elementary staff handbook
-secondary staff handbook
-elementary student agenda pages
212.
213. WebCreate Objective
• To create a new school web site template for schools which
will include technology that will reduce the effort to maintain
these sites by:
– Pre-populating information from existing data sources
– Providing 'photo-ready' content that principals can choose
to publish on their web sites
– Automating key messages
TECHNOLOGY 30
215. How can we be school-centered
leaders?
• Be leaders
• Focus on learning—therefore the operational
• Demonstrate commitment to internal audiences
• Treat schools as key clients
• Listen and give them what they need
229. Start at the top
For many communities, actions speak—and
nothing else does.
DIVERSITY 17
230.
231.
232.
233. • developed with faith groups
• system expectation that
events will be planned based
on the dates
• we have moved, cancelled
events that conflicted with
faith days
234.
235. Camera-ready Article Package
•template articles sent to schools electronically each
month
•articles can be included in monthly school
newsletters
•cover major board issues, upcoming events, safety
information and parent tips
•written, designed and approved centrally
•use it to proactively communicate items that could
become issues (lockdown, healthy eating, etc)
236. Camera-ready Article Sample Package
September 2004
•2004-05 School Calendar
•Say 'thanks' to your bus driver on Oct. 20
•Schools use many strategies to keep children safe
•Peel board improves safety in school playgrounds
•Children and parents can find math help on the web
•E-mail guidelines improve communication between you and
your child's teacher
•Fire Prevention Week – Oct. 3 to 9
•Peel board trustees accountable to the community
•Protect your child from injury—select a suitable backpack
•Students and staff celebrate Terry Fox's legacy on Sept. 24
•Subscribe to receive parent-child activities
•International Walk to School Day
•www.peelschools.org flyer
237.
238.
239.
240.
241.
242.
243. How to use your new
power--
A case in point
Our friend Bill (212
that is!)
244. How does this work in practice?
A case in point-Bill 212
•New legislation on safe schools
•Very short timeline
•Great worry in system
•Policy needs to be written
•What do you do?
245. Drowning in new legislation?
Start at the top
• be on the decision-making group
• help write the policy and
procedure
SAFETY 16
246. Drowning in new legislation?
determine what research you
need to do
• create a winning team
• identify your target audiences
SAFETY 16
247. Drowning in new legislation?
• customize similar documents for
multiple audiences
• provide an administrator-friendly
communications package
• use time-saving templates
SAFETY 16
248. Drowning in new legislation?
• communicate face-to-face
• evaluate the program
SAFETY 16
249. Bill 212 Communication
Materials
• comprehensive guideline
remarks and visuals for staff
meetings
•Remarks and visuals for parent
council meetings
• detailed staff FAQ
SAFETY 16
250.
251. Bill 212 Communication
Materials
• backgrounder
• parent's guide to the suspension and
expulsion process
• Q&A – questions from parents and
community members
SAFETY 16
252. Bill 212 Communication
Materials
• camera-ready article
• template Codes of Conduct
•K-5/K-6/K-8
•Middle school
•Secondary school
SAFETY 16
253.
254.
255. The result?
-We won the NSPRA Gold
Medallion
-Implementation was calm and
smooth
-It is a point of pride for our school
leaders
256. •Communications
can take the lead
and use templates
and processes
already established
to provide rapid,
quality response in
a crisis situation
259. What does this mean?
-We write all school incident letters
-We provide secretary scripts,
student announcements and staff
meeting scripts
-We give parents ways to help
269. Take away the media card
•In media relations--
understand that a threat is
only a threat if you are
afraid!
270. From the top…
During times of crisis, the Communications team instantly
moves into action to provide direct support to the school
staff and the system. While the Communications team
ensures that the media have up to the minute information,
they are also at the centre of every event, making sure that
letters to parents and communication to students and staff
are prepared. This invaluable service enables the
principal and superintendent to remain focused on
providing direct support to the students and staff of the
school.
Jim Grieve
Director of Education
Peel District School Board
271.
Fireproofing checklist
•Take advice of experts
•Take the lead on internal communication
•Take charge of rumour control
•Treat internal audiences well
•Prepare templates for schools
• Make everything you can public and do it quickly
•Keep in touch with local media
•Go above and beyond with other departments
• Provide scripts to key staff
•Keep senior staff in the loop
272. In Peel, when it goes very
badly…we are there. In
person. On front of the
camera. Always.
273. A bit of bad news...
•You need to be the one to have to manage the crisis,
take the lead, sort out spokespeople, negotiate with
police and talk to media—on camera!
•To reinforce—running away is not an option
•If you are it—get media trained. If you are not the
frontline spokesperson, make sure your people do
not do this…
274.
275. What kind of training?
•You’ve Got the Power!
•Do you have them at hello?
•School Councils/Student Success
•School PR Tools for 21st Century
•Working with SuperParents
276. How can we be school-centered
leaders?
And for our bonus round...
277. The very last to-
do, to do...
Deliver.
Impressively.
Repeat.
Endlessly.
