Trust First, Then Tools: Why I Never Forced Starlight on My Staff

As Assistant Head for Teaching and Learning, my role is to champion tools and strategies that genuinely help our staff grow. But when that tool is also something I’ve helped build—our AI-powered coaching platform, Starlight—the stakes are different.

From the start, I was conscious of the fine line I’d need to walk. If I pushed Starlight too hard, I risked blurring the boundaries between leadership and personal interest. I could be seen as promoting my own company, which would compromise trust. More importantly, I wouldn't know whether teachers were using it because they found it valuable—or because they felt they had to.

So I didn’t mandate anything. I simply made it available.

Instead of rollouts, I offered it for volunteer testing. I stood back, watched, and listened. And what I’ve seen has been more encouraging than any promotional campaign could deliver.

Without pressure, teachers began to test it. Some out of curiosity. Others because a colleague recommended it. Gradually, and organically, it started to spread.

“Really useful feedback ready to incorporate into my next lesson.”

“This feedback really grasped what I was aiming for.”

“It’s the best teaching tool ever!”

My role was to support—not to sell. I simply highlighted new features like the Teacher Toolkit (which generates homework instructions, retrieval questions, student participation logs and more from each transcript) and offered optional ideas for how it could be used. I kept everything low-stakes. No deadlines. No expectations. Just an invitation to try something potentially helpful.

As the term progressed, Heads of Department began telling me their teams were using it—and that they were seeing the benefits. Some of the staff who are most cautious about human observation and feedback found Starlight to be a less stressful, more private alternative.

“I prefer it to having a visitor in the lesson... I wasn’t distracted by an observer and could focus fully.”

“Felt no judgement – just something for me to use.”

“Very fair… it highlighted patterns in classroom behaviour I hadn’t spotted.”

What’s struck me most is how staff have encouraged each other. That peer-to-peer recommendation has been more powerful than anything I could have orchestrated. It’s helped the tool feel like what it was always meant to be: something teachers use because they love it, because it’s genuinely useful—not because they’ve been told to.

By trusting staff to make their own judgements, we’ve learned something more valuable than user numbers or adoption rates. We’ve learned that teachers want feedback that’s accurate, timely, and safe. And if we build something that serves those needs, they’ll use it—without needing to be told.

That’s the standard we’ve set for Starlight. And it’s one we’ll continue to hold ourselves to.

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.