Observations Just Got Smarter: Turning Professional Dialogue into Actionable Insight

When we first launched Observations earlier this year, our goal was simple: to bring every strand of professional dialogue — from personalised and private AI coaching feedback and formal observations to informal reflections — into one secure, teacher-first space.

Now, after months of collaboration and feedback from schools across the UK, that feature has taken a major leap forward. The latest upgrade makes Observations not only easier to use, but far more powerful as a whole-school quality-assurance tool.

What’s New

🔹 Automatic Visibility for Formal Observations: When an observer selects Formal as the observation type, that record now becomes instantly visible to all Organisation Admins — ensuring senior leaders can monitor activity without needing to request access or duplicate forms.

🔹 Downloadable Data for Evidence and Analysis: Admins can now download observation data across any chosen period (week, month, term, or year). The exported spreadsheet includes key fields — Teacher, Observer, Type, Date, Subject, Class Context, Strengths, Areas for Development, and Notes — ready for analysis in Excel or through the school’s own AI tools.

🔹 Observation Analytics for All Types: The new Quantitative Dashboard provides a live overview of observation activity: total observations, number of teachers observed, observer breakdowns, and the balance between Formal, Drop-in, Peer, and Self-reflection. This gives leaders a clear view of engagement and coverage across their organisation.

🔹 Linked Reflections Tracking: For formal observations, reflections are now tracked and exportable too — complete with completion status, strengths, and next steps. This ensures every dialogue loop can be seen from both perspectives: observation and reflection.

🔹 Smart Notifications: Observers can now “Copy” or “Notify” another participant — such as a Head of Department or line manager — automatically, so they can also seen observation notes and all relevant leaders are kept in the loop without extra admin.

Why It Matters

These upgrades turn Observations into a genuine whole-school coaching infrastructure. For teachers, it keeps feedback in one place — simple, respectful, and under their control. For leaders, it provides a high-level picture of what’s happening across classrooms in formal observations, without sacrificing teacher privacy.

As schools increasingly look for joined-up systems to manage CPD, quality assurance, and coaching, these improvements mean Starlight can now handle everything from the individual reflection to the aggregated organisational view — seamlessly connected.

Built on Feedback. Refined with Purpose.

Every improvement came directly from conversations with teachers, middle leaders, and headteachers using Starlight in real schools. Their feedback shaped the design, workflow, and reporting functions — a reminder of our promise to continually evolve the platform in partnership with educators.

Because every feature we build at STAR21 begins with the same question: Will this make professional growth simpler, fairer, and more meaningful?

With these latest upgrades, the answer is a clear yes.

Spark Insight with Starlight — and now, Spark Observation with Clarity.

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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.