Media Training for Heads - Monday 15 September 2025 (Broadway House, London)
This 1 day course is for Heads of HMC Schools and is led by Ross Hawkins of Hawthorn Advisors.
Description
What will you gain by attending?
- An overview of current media attitudes to independent education, and key political debates that can influence these attitudes.
- Tailored training in core skills communicating messages to media and dealing with challenging questions.
- Practical experience of engaging with media and rebutting negative queries
Course Programme
|
Time |
Session |
|
09:30 |
Arrival, registration, and coffee
|
|
10.00 |
Welcome and introduction
|
|
10.05 |
Session 1 - The current media and political landscape for heads as they communicate with journalists: narratives, opportunities and pitfalls.
|
|
11.30 |
Refreshment break in lounge
|
|
11.45 |
Session 2 - Core communications and presentation skills - with practical exercises.
|
|
13.00 |
Lunch in restaurant
|
|
14.00 |
Session 3 - Dealing with challenging questions – with practical exercises.
|
|
15.00 |
Refreshment break in lounge
|
|
15.15 |
Session 4 - Reviewing performance – what works and what doesn’t.
|
|
16.00 |
Depart
|
Speaker Biography
Ross Hawkins spent almost twenty years working at the BBC after beginning his career in newspapers. As a correspondent he reported often on independent and state education. Ross primarily covered politics interviewing prime ministers and cabinet members for television and radio. He has spent the last five years working in the private sector advising on communications, supporting a series of schools and education groups, as well as working in the higher education and other sectors.