For many schools, the class WhatsApp or Viber group is the fastest way to reach families. It’s also a group where messages are forwarded, screenshots are taken and members change during the year. A few habits keep pupils safe without making your life harder.
This is general good practice, not legal advice. Always follow your school’s policy and your country’s rules on children’s data.
1. Share links, not results
Post the lesson link, never a list of scores or a screenshot of who finished. Results belong in your teacher dashboard, where only you can see them.
If you want to praise the class, keep it general: “Great work everyone, most of you finished yesterday’s lesson.”
2. Keep pupils’ faces and names out of lesson content
Lessons can be opened by anyone who has the link. So:
- Use photos of objects, places and your own drawings, not of pupils.
- If a pupil appears in a photo or video, get written permission from their family first, and check your school’s policy.
- Don’t put pupils’ full names in a lesson title or card.
3. Use first names or nicknames only
When you set up your class list, a first name or a nickname is enough for pupils to find themselves. There’s no need for surnames, birthdays or phone numbers.
LessonTale only asks for a display name for each pupil. That’s deliberate: the less you collect, the less there is to protect.
4. Check who is in the group
At the start of each term:
- Remove members who no longer belong to the class.
- Ask the school to confirm new members before adding them.
- Turn on admin-only posting if your platform allows it, so the group stays focused.
5. Tell families what the links are
Send a short message at the start of the year, for example:
“This year I’ll share short lessons as links in this group. Your child taps their name and plays the lesson on your phone. Please don’t forward the links outside the group. The results only come to me.”
Families are much more relaxed when they know what to expect.
6. Turn off links you no longer need
If a link has been forwarded somewhere it shouldn’t be, you should be able to switch it off and share a fresh one. In LessonTale you can unpublish a lesson at any time; the pupils’ earlier results stay safe in your dashboard.
A quick checklist
- I’m sharing links, not scores or screenshots
- No pupils’ faces or full names in my lessons
- My class list uses first names or nicknames
- I checked the group members this term
- Families know what the links are for
Safe sharing doesn’t have to be complicated. A few habits, repeated every week, protect pupils and build trust with families.