Lesson Recordings and Safeguarding: Building a Framework of Trust
- Adam Sturdee
- Sep 23
- 3 min read
When it comes to professional development, nothing is more powerful than real classroom insight. But nothing is more sensitive either. As we’ve been working with schools to embed Starlight, one of the recurring questions has been about audio recordings: how are they stored, who has access, and what happens if a recording captures something serious?
These are not small questions. Teachers rightly want to know that they are safe. Senior leaders need to be confident that adopting new technology won’t leave their staff vulnerable. And everyone has the same underlying priority: to keep children safe while creating space for teachers to grow.
Listening and Learning Together
Recently, concerns were raised by leaders and teachers we work with about whether recordings might ever be used against staff in the context of an allegation. The point was well made: if Starlight is truly about coaching, how do we make sure that principle is watertight?
We take these questions very seriously. We see them as part of our shared responsibility to shape this platform with care. That’s why we’ve developed our Guidance on Recordings, Safeguarding and Allegations — a clear framework that sits alongside Keeping Children Safe in Education (2025), UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act (2018), as well as existing school policies.
What the Guidance Says
The guidance sets out in plain terms how recordings are handled if they intersect with safeguarding or HR:
Recordings are for coaching, not surveillance. They are never used for appraisal or performance management.
Teachers stay in control. They can delete their recordings at any time, and any deletion is a hard delete — not recoverable.
Automatic deletion after three months. This ensures privacy and keeps data storage lean, unless a legal hold applies.
If a safeguarding allegation arises: the recording is secured, preserved under legal hold, and only accessed at the instruction of the LADO, police, or safeguarding authority.
Staff protection: the process ensures that evidence protects teachers as much as pupils, preventing hearsay and guaranteeing fair handling.
View our Guidance on Recordings, Safeguarding and Allegations here:
Why This Matters
By working through these issues openly with schools, we’re not only building compliance — we’re building trust. Teachers need to know their recordings won’t be misused. Leaders need to know their policies and statutory duties are supported. Parents and pupils need to know safeguarding remains the priority.
Our approach is simple: transparency, security, and partnership. We’ll continue to refine our framework as we learn, always in dialogue with the schools who are pioneering this journey with us.
The Bigger Picture
This is part of the wider story of Starlight: documenting the journey of building a platform that makes coaching scalable, protects teacher wellbeing, and places reflection at the heart of professional growth. Capturing audio in classrooms raises tricky questions — but by facing them head-on, we can turn them into reassurance, not risk.
Starlight – Spark Insight.
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The Insight Engine is written by Adam Sturdee, co-founder of Starlight—the UK’s first AI-powered coaching platform—and Assistant Headteacher at St Augustine’s Catholic College. This blog is part of a wider mission to support educators through meaningful reflection, not performance metrics. It documents the journey of building Starlight from the ground up, and explores how AI, when shaped with care, can reduce workload, surface insight, and help teachers think more deeply about their practice. Rooted in the belief that growth should be private, professional, and purposeful, The Insight Engine offers ideas and stories that put insight—not judgment—at the centre of development.
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