Sharing a document
Choose who can see or edit a document, whiteboard, spreadsheet, deck or design, and why parents are added when you share with a child.
Updated 18 October 2026
Why this exists
Sending files by email leaves copies everywhere and no control over who can read them. Here a document starts private, and you choose who can view or edit it. When a student is on a document with staff, their parents are added as viewers too, so tutors, families and the centre are always covered.
Every document starts private to you. You choose who else can open it.
Share it
- Open the document and choose Share.
- Next to each person, pick Can view, Can edit or No access.
- Close the panel. It saves straight away.
You can share with colleagues at your centre and with the students you teach.
Owner, editor and viewer
- The owner made it. Only the owner deletes it, and on a whiteboard only the owner can clear a page.
- An editor changes it.
- A viewer reads it and can make a copy.
Sharing with a child adds the parents
When a student and a member of staff are both on a document, the student's parents are added as viewers. You will see "The child's parent was added so they can see this too." This is a child safety rule: there is no private written channel between staff and a child. Taking a parent off the list does not remove them.
Good to know
- Use Copy link to send the address. Only people on the list can open it.
- Your centre's compliance staff can read documents shared with a family, as part of their safety checks.
- Share the student copy of a worksheet, not the one with the answers. See Worksheets and answer keys.