For Australian school leadership teams

My PR Partner Schools Program

Take your school's communication, reputation and crisis readiness to the next level

A 12-month online PR training program built exclusively for Australian school leadership teams. Principals, executive leaders, communications staff and crisis response teams learn together, so your whole school speaks with one confident voice.

  • Elevate your school's brand, image and positive media profile
  • Build deeper trust with parents, staff and the wider school community
  • Manage negative issues effectively and turn challenges into opportunities
  • Be prepared for, and confidently navigate, any major issue or crisis
  • Protect and strengthen your school's reputation across every channel
Enrol your schoolDownload program outline
Built for Australian school leadership teams

100% online

Learn at your own pace

12 monthly modules

Training + resource + Q&A

Whole-team program

Leadership, comms and crisis staff

Optional PR support

Security and peace of mind

School experts

Experienced and specialised

Overview

Affordable PR training, resources and support that empowers your whole school team

The My PR Partner Schools Program is a 12-month online training program designed for busy Australian school professionals. Each team member learns at a time that suits them, and content is built with the full range of school roles in mind, so your whole team shares the same language and supports each other when it matters most.

Built by CRC Public Relations, this is the distilled version of 15+ years of standing beside Australian schools through their biggest PR and reputation moments, from proud media wins to the toughest allegations, challenges and tragedies no school wants to face.

Why school leaders choose this program

  • A shared PR mindset across principals, exec, comms and teaching staff
  • A ready-to-use library of resources, templates and checklists
  • Expert support from real Australian school PR and specialist consultants, not academics
  • Practical crisis-ready frameworks you can deploy the same day
  • Guest presenters across law, investigations, media, social media and crisis
  • Monthly interactive Q&A for your specific school circumstances

What's included every month

Training, resources and support, every single month for a year

This is not a passive video library. Each month, your entire team gets everything they need to build trust, handle issues and communicate confidently to parents, staff, media and the community.

Training video + workbook

A new training module each month, with a workbook designed for team discussion. Built to go deeper over time.

Practical resource

A downloadable tool every month: checklists, templates, policies and playbooks you can adapt to your school the same day.

Fortnightly Spotlight email

Short, sharp, timely insights to keep the ideas alive between modules, including examples from Australian schools.

Interactive Q&A

Bring your specific school circumstances to a monthly Q&A with Lyall and the expert panel. Real advice for your real situations.

12-month plan

Your month-by-month school program

Every month delivers a training video, a workbook, a practical resource, a fortnightly Spotlight email and an interactive Q&A. The 12-month path is grouped into four quarterly phases. (Topics are current at this time but are subject to change and some modules may be substituted during the 12 months.)

Phase 1: Foundations (Months 1 to 3)

Build the mindset and spot the risks

  1. 1

    Month 1

    Having a PR mindset: Intentional communication that builds ongoing trust

    Resource: Communications tips for all staff

  2. 2

    Month 2

    Understanding vulnerabilities: spotting your school's "sliding doors" moments before they escalate

    Resource: The essential reputation checklist for schools

  3. 3

    Month 3

    How to deal with allegations, with Tim Sterne (Basalt Solutions)

    Resource: Resource from Tim Sterne (TBD)

Phase 2: Brand, media and social (Months 4 to 6)

Get on the front foot

  1. 4

    Month 4

    Elevate your school brand: Become the school of choice through free positive publicity

    Resource: Template media releases

  2. 5

    Month 5

    Handling media enquiries and interest: protect your school when the media comes knocking

    Resource: Template media policy

  3. 6

    Month 6

    Doing social media well, with a social media specialist expert

    Resource: Social media tips

Phase 3: Crisis ready (Months 7 to 9)

Ready for the hardest days

  1. 7

    Month 7

    Being crisis ready: Lyall Mercer with input from Melissa Agnes (Crisis Ready Institute)

    Resource: Crisis communications guide for schools

  2. 8

    Month 8

    School board and governance risks, with Tim Whincop (Vocare Law)

    Resource: Resource from Tim Whincop (TBD)

  3. 9

    Month 9

    Dealing with tragedy: Lyall speaks to Dan Brown, Principal of Emmanuel College

    Resource: Checklist to navigate tragic events

Phase 4: Mastery and application (Months 10 to 12)

Sharpen and apply

  1. 10

    Month 10

    Hot button issues: Red flag issues that schools get wrong, and how to get it right

    Resource: Hot button briefs for independent and faith-based schools

  2. 11

    Month 11

    Q&A month: the biggest questions and scenarios from program participants

  3. 12

    Month 12

    Media training for your spokespeople: the art of a great school interview

    On call all year, so your spokespeople are media-ready whenever you need them.

Who it's for

A tailored program exclusively for school leadership and comms teams

Your whole leadership team learns together, so everyone speaks with one voice in high-stakes moments and no one carries the reputation load alone.

Principals and executive leaders

Lead your school community with confidence, from day-to-day trust building to the hardest headlines you'll ever face.

Communications and marketing teams

Turn content, channels and relationships into measurable gains in enrolments, reputation and community trust.

School boards and governance leads

Understand your reputation risk, your legal exposure and your role as the school's ultimate trust holders.

Crisis response and safeguarding staff

Be ready for allegations, incidents and media interest with plans, checklists and frameworks built for schools.

Your presenters

Learn from Australia's leading school PR and education specialists

Lead presenter is Lyall Mercer, supported by a panel of guest experts covering their specialty area of expertise.

Lyall Mercer

Lyall Mercer

Lead presenter | Co-founder, My PR Partner | Lead Strategist, CRC Public Relations

Former journalist with a 25+ year PR career spanning six continents. Lyall has guided Australian schools, charities, associations, businesses and governments through crisis moments and reputation-building campaigns for 25+ years.
Tim Sterne

Tim Sterne

Month 3 · Director, Basalt Solutions

Former teacher and police detective. Tim is an independent ethics and integrity specialist for Australian and New Zealand schools, and a leading voice on handling allegations with due process and minimised reputational risk.
Tim Whincop

Tim Whincop

Month 8 · Director, Vocare Law

School governance and law specialist. Tim leads the Month 8 session on school board and governance risks, drawing on years of advising Australian charities, ministries, and independent and faith-based schools.
Melissa Agnes

Melissa Agnes

Month 7 · Founder, Crisis Ready Institute (USA)

Globally recognised authority on crisis communication and crisis leadership. Author and creator of the Crisis Ready® Model, presenting exclusively through My PR Partner in Australasia.

Plus conversations with serving school principals and specialist social media, PR, reputation, legal and safeguarding experts.

What Australian schools and sector leaders say

Built on 15+ years of real work with Australian schools

CRC Public Relations has developed a crisis communications plan for Christian schools and has assisted many of our member schools across Australia to effectively communicate when issues have arisen.

Executive officer

National schools association

We have enjoyed a valued partnership with CRC Public Relations for over a decade, which has been instrumental in maintaining Emmanuel College's strong reputation within the community.

Dan Brown

Principal, Emmanuel College

Occasionally there may be matters impacting one of our fifteen schools which need to be managed sensitively. We have found it prudent to seek advice from CRC Public Relations who help us communicate effectively.

John Lyndon

CEO, Christian Community Ministries

The value your school walks away with

Outcomes that matter in the staffroom, the boardroom and the newsroom

Elevate your brand

Position your school as the school of choice for future families, without extra advertising spend.

Deepen community trust

Create a communications culture that earns continual trust with parents, staff and the school community.

Deal with the media confidently

Embrace positive opportunities and deal with all media enquiries in a way that protects your reputation.

Reduce governance risk

Give your board, principal and legal advisers a shared framework for reputation and governance risk.

Be genuinely crisis ready

Have a tested crisis communications plan, prepared spokespeople, and team-wide understanding.

Navigate issues effectively

Lead and succeed through the toughest issues schools face with your reputation protected.

Compare plans

Choose the level of support that fits your school

Every level includes the full 12-month training program. Support and Partner add hands-on PR assistance and crisis-readiness from the CRC Public Relations team. Select a plan to load it into the enrolment panel.

Train Level

Team training and resources

$440

monthly instalment · ex GST

  • Monthly training video + workbook
  • Monthly practical team resource
  • Spotlight emails
  • Interactive Q&A
  • Bonus training and resources

Support Level

Training plus on-call PR support

$840

monthly instalment · ex GST

  • Monthly training video + workbook
  • Monthly practical team resource
  • Spotlight emails
  • Interactive Q&A
  • Bonus training and resources
  • The essential reputational & vulnerability checklist for schools
  • Issues & crisis communications planning templates and tips for schools
  • One hour crisis planning consultation
  • Access to special PR consultancy rates
  • On-call PR or issues & crisis management assistance (6 hours)

Partner Level

Full PR partnership with media training

$1,340

monthly instalment · ex GST

  • Monthly training video + workbook
  • Monthly practical team resource
  • Spotlight emails
  • Interactive Q&A
  • Bonus training and resources
  • The essential reputational & vulnerability checklist for schools
  • Issues & crisis communications planning templates and tips for schools
  • One hour crisis planning consultation
  • Access to special PR consultancy rates
  • Personal, ongoing phone, email & Zoom PR support (20 hours)
  • Comprehensive, personalised online half-day media training

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

The program is designed for your whole leadership team. You choose who you'd like to be involved each month. This includes principals and executive leaders, your communications and marketing team, school board and governance leads, crisis response and safeguarding staff, and teaching staff who contribute to school communications. The first month is intentionally shaped so all staff can benefit.
Our Support Level is our most popular and includes on-call PR or issues & crisis assistance. Our Partner Level is for schools who want the security of extra peace of mind, and includes personal, ongoing phone, email & Zoom PR support. Both of these levels also include many other features, extra resources and individual training. See our pricing and plans for details. All PR support is provided by the senior team at CRC Public Relations.
Yes. Every module is self-paced online, with a training video, workbook and a downloadable resource released monthly. This includes the monthly Q&A.
Enrolment runs for 12 months from the day your school joins. You keep access to all modules, resources and recordings (after they are released) until the end of the 12 months. Many schools choose to continue annually so new staff onboard into the same shared PR mindset. There is also an option to renew for new second year content for those who have completed year one.
The Schools Program covers everything most schools need, however if any of your team wants the deeper, personal crisis leadership available, we offer the crisis masterclass as a separate flagship program. This features the Crisis Ready course with Melissa Agnes, CEO of the Crisis Ready Institute USA as well as other crisis-specific resources. This is personal (not team) training and schools can enrol their principal, board chair, or communications manager in this separately.
Yes. The fortnightly Spotlight email keeps key ideas alive, and the monthly interactive Q&A is where you can bring your school's live situation. When something serious breaks, your team has a clear path to call on the CRC Public Relations consulting team if required (available on support levels).
Absolutely. Month 8 is a dedicated governance session with Tim Whincop from Vocare Law, and we actively encourage board members to access the program.
Payment is by annual subscription per school that can be paid in monthly instalments or annually. Payment is billed through our secure learning platform at checkout. You'll receive a tax invoice by email and immediate access to your school dashboard. Annual subscribers receive one month free and have the option of paying by invoice.
We offer a 10 day free trial. Your online payment will not be processed for 10 days and during this time you are able to cancel. If paying annually by invoice you can still cancel within 10 days for a full refund, no questions asked. There is no refund after the 10 days (see T&C for full details).
Lyall Mercer and Barbara Gorogh, co-founders of My PR Partner

From the founders

A message from Lyall and Barbara

We built the Schools Program because Australian schools – particularly independent and faith based – are under more media, public and parent scrutiny than ever before. Most are not equipped to handle challenging issues and communication training isn’t offered to educators. Too many schools fail at communicating during high-stakes moments, are not building trust with their community, and don’t take advantage of positive opportunities to showcase their school in a positive light.

Since 2010, CRC Public Relations has walked with Australian schools through their proudest moments and their hardest ones. This program is that experience, distilled into monthly training your whole team can use, so every leader, every comms professional, and every teacher is working and communicating together.

Lyall Mercer and Barbara Gorogh, Co-founders

Multi-school enrolments

Train every school in your organisation under one enrolment

We work with independent schools groups under the same ownership and dioceses on multi-school enrolments. Bulk rates, shared resources and optional training facilitated by CRC Public Relations are all possible.

  • Discounted per-school pricing across a group
  • Tailored training can be discussed
  • Special PR support pricing negotiable if communications controlled centrally
  • Individual, customised Q&A possible
Enquire about group enrolment

We'll reply within one business day.

Want to go deeper on crisis?

Add the Crisis Masterclass for your principal and board chair

The Schools Program includes a module featuring part of the Crisis Ready course. If you’d like the full 12-month flagship program with every Crisis Ready® module taught by Melissa Agnes, CEO of the Crisis Ready Institute USA (tailored for Australia), and other training from Lyall Mercer, enrol your principal and board chair in the Crisis Masterclass alongside your school program.

  • Full 12-month Crisis Masterclass
  • Full Crisis Ready® course with Melissa Agnes
  • Monthly Q&A
  • Detailed workbooks and resources.
Learn about the My PR Partner Crisis MasterclassTalk to our team

For Australian school leadership teams

Give your whole school team one confident voice this year

Enrol your school today and start the 12-month program that has helped Australian independent and faith-based schools build trust, protect reputation and lead through the hardest moments.

Enrol your schoolTalk to our schools team

10 day free trial. Powered by CRC Public Relations.