Crisis Communication Drills for Schools

The only way to know that your crisis communication plan works is to put it into practice. You can either wait until crisis day, or test it regularly. It’s no different from a fire drill. In these crisis communication drills, teams from different schools come together for a classroom exercise based on a specific scenario.

You will not know what the scenario will be until you arrive. Once you are told, you will be placed into school groups to work out what course of action to take. As time progresses, you will be asked to react to a number of variables that are likely to happen in real life. Each school will bring their own laptop so they can produce the necessary material in real time. It’s always the first few hours of a crisis situation that are the most vital.

Your decision-making under stress and your crisis communication plan will be tested. This is the only way to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your response, so you are able to make any necessary changes before the real thing.

Who should attend?(As many people responsible for the following roles as possible. These will have been organised during or after the Crisis Communication Planning Seminar. It is highly likely that some staff members will fill more than one position)

• Your crisis communication leader (Vital)

• Your spokesperson

• Media Liaison Officer

• Online Manager

How do the Crisis Communication Drills work?

The session starts with a brief refresher about each school’s Crisis Communication Plan, and the important sections within it. You will also be provided with an updated media list and any other additional material for your plan. Then the scenario is uncovered, and over the next two hours, the school teams are asked to deal with the evolving crisis. Following this, we have a detailed de-brief and identify any areas that need attention.

Training Format Options

Public Workshops

These are where teams from different schools come together fore the 3-hour drill.

At your school with your crisis communication team

Pete comes to your school and the entire exercise is undertaken exclusively with your team.