MASTERING DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS with parents/Staff
Dear Auckland School Leader
Are difficult conversations with parents keeping you or your staff up at night? You're not alone. Staff find these conversations challenging and often worry about the outcome, let alone the amount of time they can take up.
This specialised workshop is designed to equip you and your staff with the tools and confidence to navigate even the most challenging discussions with parents with ease and get the results you want in less time. For teachers, they also learn a framework to deal with these conversations, rather than escalating them up to senior leadership so often.
What you'll Learn
- Simple but usually unknown preparation steps
- Key messages to reinforce and how to use them
- Why emotions flair up (yours and theirs) and how to manage them
- The importance of separating facts from assumptions and how
- How to ascertain the parent's intentions (Vital for results)
- The importance and secrets of active listening and body language
This is all done through the use of real life scenarios that you are more than likely to face, if you haven't already.
Other Workshop Details
This is for anyone who deals with parents and other stakeholders like staff. It may be for you, your senior leaders, pastoral team and/or selected teachers. It was developed after two school principals asked Pete Burdon (See below) to develop it from his media training workshops. They could see how an adapted workshop could be of immense value to anyone dealing with angry parents. The workshop incorporates relevant parts of Pete's media training workshops focused on scenarios when the stakes are high, along with others exclusively for difficult conversations. It is highly practical and interactive. The only difference from those mentioned in feedback below is that there are no mock conversation exercises. (Private group workshops are also offered).
WHERE: Auckland CBD (Venue to be announced)
DATE: Wednesday March 25, 2026
TIME: 9am-11am.
INVESTMENT: $250+GST per person. Email Pete@MediaTrainingnz.co.nz with any questions or sign up below.
ABOUT PETE
Pete has specialised in training school leaders in New Zealand for the last 15 years. This has included small group media interview training and crisis communication planning, presenting to numerous school leader groups in person and through webinars. More recently he has launched his "Mastering Difficult Conversations with Parents," workshops. See feedback below.
Pete is a former Education Reporter and Government Press Secretary. He holds two Masters Degrees. One is in Communication Management from UTS in Sydney and the other in Journalism from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.
He is also the international author of "Media Training for Modern Leaders."
WHAT OTHERS SAY...
I was in your workshop on dealing with difficult parents. The course has changed the way I deal with parents and has decreased my stress levels. I have a year 2 teacher in our department who is struggling with over protective, overdemanding, helicopter parents. I have shared your system with her and helped her frame a reply to an email she received last night (at 8pm) from a parent. She has gone away much happier. It has been a tough term for a lot of reasons and the PD was invaluable. Thank you.
LINDA, NEW PLYMOUTH
A key outcome for me was seeing staff gain a shared language and framework for handling these situations. Rather than relying solely on instinct or escalating issues straight to senior leadership, they now have a strategy they can apply independently. This not only builds their confidence but also promotes greater consistency in how conversations are managed across the school.
ADAM CELS, PRINCIPAL, WHENUAPAI SCHOOL, AUCKLAND
The schools that attended Pete’s “Difficult Conversations” PLD (including my own) raved about the hands on nature of the day. Pete’s ability to weave incredibly useful content into the scenarios we used to practice the skills he outlined, was outstanding. Whilst some of the roles plays were daunting, this is where the real learning took place. All leaders left the day feeling much better prepared.
STEVE KING, LEADER, AUCKLAND CENTRAL COMMUNITY OF SCHOOLS AND PRINCIPAL, REMUERA PRIMARY
Pete's workshop has been invaluable for our pastoral team, equipping them with essential skills to handle challenging conversations with parents. His focus on body language and de-escalation techniques has provided practical strategies that foster calm, constructive communication. Thanks to Pete’s guidance, our team feels more confident and prepared to navigate even the most sensitive discussions.
NIGEL VERNON, ASSIATANT PRINCIPAL - PASTORAL CARE, CHRISTCHURCH BOYS' HIGH SCHOOL
Pete delivered an outstanding, highly practical professional development session for our Housemasters on navigating difficult conversations. His calm, clear, and experienced approach created a safe space for meaningful learning. The tools and frameworks he introduced were immediately applicable and deeply relevant to the pastoral realities of our work. Our Housemasters left the session feeling more confident, better equipped, and genuinely empowered. We are grateful for Pete’s expertise and look forward to seeing these strategies positively influence our practice next year. I would highly recommend it for any pastoral team in secondary schools.
CRAIG HARDMAN, ASSOCIATE HEADMASTER, ST PAUL'S COLLEGIATE SCHOOL
Kia ora Pete
Thank you for your time and session on Friday. I personally took a lot from this. Interestingly I was able to immediately use this on my return to school. It made a huge difference to me. Thank you.
DEBBIE STANGER, PRINCIPAL, FAIRHALL SCHOOL
The feedback I have had is very positive with staff talking about how they are using it (What they learnt in the workshop). It was a great session, very informative , relevant and will be part of our tools moving forward.
MARGARET TROTTER, PRINCIPAL, OAKLANDS SCHOOL
Rangiora High invited Pete into the school to work with our Kaitiaki (Deans) on managing difficult parents. This is an area where many schools just assume teachers have the knowledge and skills to enter into this space and it can be quite challenging for them. At the end of the day our Kaitiaki felt they had been on a journey of learning that gave them not only the skills but also the confidence to enter into these conversations. A very worthwhile engagement with an outstanding presenter. .
BRUCE KEARNEY, PRINCIPAL, RANGIORA HIGH SCHOOL
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