Is it illegal if i record my conversation with dd's teacher about the bullying meeting?

[HopingForTheBest]

Also posted on Chat.
The subject header says it really, i will appreciate it, if any legal person would kindly answer to this.
DD is being bullied at school and i had the initial meetings with her teacher, it was supposed to be resolved but not. Same girls recruited more girls and still bullying dd. I saw with my own eyes! I raised the issue with the teacher immediately but the teacher, very cheekily, suggested it does not really classify as bullying, since it happened more than one month apart from the first bullying incident that i had reported, it was not frequent enough in his opinion! I am furious.
I am having a meeting with him this week and honestly i do not have any faith in him or the school. I want to tape our conversation in case he denies anything later which he may do. I will write to the school too but in the meantime i need clarification for this matter: can i legally record our conversation, so that i will have word by word proof of what has been said and i will use it as basis in my own letter to the school. So if they do not like the content of my letter and want to deny it, they cannot dispute with the actual recording of the meeting... that's the idea.
Would anyone let me know if it is illegal?
Many thanks in advance.

its an aid but they is no requirement for th person you are recording to allow you too and if you asked me if you could record I would say no and refuse to contine the meeting if you attempted to do so

(reason its not evidence is that it can be doctered to suit someones arguement etc )

take extensive notes and read them back to him as you write them down?

It is illegal if you don't tell them you are recording.

What you can do is take detailed notes and read them out as you make them, clarifying each point, then follow up each meeting with a detailed email containing everything that was said.

You must be very careful to be completely accurate.

You sign off by saying please reply by such and such a date if there are any inaccuracies in this summary.
You also conclude by summarising the discussion and itemising exactly what your expectations are and what action you expect to be taken and by when.

Once the deadline for their reply has passed, you can write to the HT and the governers with a complete record of all correspondence.

I used to work in a job where we had to follow this process throughout an entire project whenever there was a meeting/visit or phone call about the project. All the records were kept on file until at least 10 years after the whole thing was completed and paid for.

It is illegal if you don't tell them you are recording

Rubbish. There is no law against recording conversations covertly. Journalists frequently do so. There is only a problem if you disclose the recording to a third party without consent. Even then you may have the defence that disclosure is in the public interest.

The other option is to take someone with you as a witness and tell the school you will be taking notes.
After the meeting, type up the notes and email a copy to the school for their records.

Those replying to the OP should note that this thread is 3 years old. It was revived by another poster who has already recorded a conversation and is being threatened with legal action if she complains about the outcome of the meeting.

You need proper lawyers wrigint about this NOT people just assuming it is illegal. You usually can record even without permission.

We are not talking here about intercepting a telephone call - in which case RIPA would apply.

Now there may be restrictions on what you can do with the recording - eg it will be the teacher's personal data so under DPA if you go off an post it on youtube that act could breach the law or it may not be possible to use it as criminal evidence. It also may be against the rules of the building you are in - eg some concert hall will have a rule (not a law) no recording.

YOU CAN RECORD IT. I really do wish people would look into something before claiming it's illegal.

www.acitylawfirm.co.uk/recorded-conversations

As others have said, you can record but the problem arises when you try and use that recording for something. Per the link above though: "Consent can be obtained retrospectively or argued to be within the public’s interest."

So long story short - record the conversation, take notes, and then as someone else suggested above, e-mail the teacher with the transcript/outline asking him to confirm that the contents are an accurate representation of your conversation and following up on any salient points.

I would strongly advise you not to do this. Most teachers would take you to court over this, depending on how the recording was used. How would you feel if you were recorded without permission?

Most teachers would take you to court over this

I wish them luck with that. I repeat, it is not illegal to covertly record a conversation. A teacher may be able to sue if the parent discloses the recording to a third party without consent but even then the parent may be able to argue that disclosure was in the public interest.

And can I again remind posters that we are no longer dealing with the OP who was thinking of recording a meeting 3 years ago. We are now advising someone who has recorded a meeting.

" Most teachers would take you to court over this,"
I highly doubt that

These jumped up state worker types like teachers and social workers who think they are Gods and can lay down the law usually get the law wrong anyway. Yes we can record you and it can be very useful to have the record.

As I said above however you need to be careful how you use it.

" jumped up state worker types like teachers and social workers who think they are Gods and can lay down the law "

lol spot on Lotuslight

When we had a serious issue with the childrens' school, I asked for the meeting to be minuted. This protected all parties concerned and childrens' services chose to attend also. The school did not have an issue with this at all. However, the headteacher chose to resign not long afterwards and our issue was only the tip of the iceberg.

The teacher involved has already failed to deal with the issue so I cannot see how another meeting will move matters forward. You need a meeting with him, the Head and appropriate support staff.

Minuting a meeting is an excellent idea.

Hi I've got a meeting coming up with my childs school. I would like to record it. So is it possible? Thankyou

@Ilovecheeseandcoffee - You should start your own thread rather than revive one that is 13 years old. You may get people responding to the OP rather than you. However, to answer your question, yes, you can record the meeting, and you do not have to disclose that you are doing so. However, in most cases you cannot disclose the recording to anyone else unless you have the consent of everyone in the recording.