Difficult Conversations Toolkit

A nineteen-page toolkit for the conversations school leaders put off, built from ten years in executive leadership.

What is inside:

• The four questions to answer before you walk in, and how to set the conversation up so it has a chance of working
• Openings that work, and three that undermine you before you start
• Six scripted conversations: teaching that is not good enough, a colleague whose life is getting in the way of the job, behaviour towards a colleague, the parent who has stopped trusting you, telling an internal candidate they did not get it, and challenging your own line manager
• What to do in the room when there are tears, anger, flat denial, silence or a counter-accusation
• Afterwards: the record, the follow-up email, and repairing the relationship
• Three printable templates: preparation sheet, record of conversation, and a follow-up email you can adapt

Written by Max Kelly, Executive Headteacher and Inclusion Quality Mark assessor working across the UK, Northern Ireland and the Middle East.

Instant download, PDF, print-ready A4.