Privacy notice

Last updated 28 September 2026

Who we are

The Virtual Skipping League (vsl.org.uk) is run by skip-hop. You can contact us about anything in this notice at support@vsl.org.uk.

Our role and the school's role

Each school that joins the league is the data controller for its pupils' information: the school decides which pupils take part and what is entered. skip-hop acts as a data processor for pupil information, handling it only to run the league on the school's behalf and never for any other purpose.

For school staff accounts, and for the school details used to run the league (such as approving registrations), skip-hop is the data controller.

What we collect

• School staff: name, school email address, role, and a password (stored securely by our login provider; we never see it).
• Schools: school name, town, postcode, and the name and role of the person who registered it.
• School Games Organisers (SGOs): the name, work email and work phone number of the SGO for each area, taken from lists published by Active Partnerships, or given to us by a school when it registers. We record where each detail came from and remove it on request.
• SGO accounts and invitations: when an SGO signs up for a login we keep their name, work email, job title, organisation and the area(s) they cover. If an SGO asks us to email an invitation to a school, we keep the school office email address they gave us, the date and who asked, so we don't email the same address twice in 90 days. Anyone who clicks "Don't email me again" in one of these emails is added to a list that we never email.
• Pupils: first name, the first letter of their surname (and a second letter only when needed to tell apart two pupils with the same first name), year group, class, an optional skipping nickname if the pupil wants one, optionally whether the pupil is a girl or a boy (if the school chooses to record it), and their skipping scores. We do not collect full surnames, dates of birth, photos or contact details for pupils.
• Adding pupils from lists and spreadsheets: teachers can paste a class list or upload a spreadsheet (for example an export from the school's information system) that contains full names and other details. The list or file is read only in the teacher's own web browser; it is not uploaded to us. Only each pupil's first name, the surname letters described above, year group, class, any nickname and, if the file has a gender column, girl or boy are sent to us. Full surnames and every other column (such as dates of birth, UPNs or addresses) are ignored: they are never sent to, stored by or kept by Virtual Skipping League.
• SEND and pupil premium ticks: a school can optionally tick SEND or PP for a pupil. These ticks are only used to count how many of those pupils take part, in the school’s own School Games Mark report. They are never shown publicly, and SGOs only ever see totals for the whole school, never which pupils are ticked.
• Pupil voice: children can answer three questions by tapping a face. Answers are anonymous: we store only the class, the date and the three answers, never a name.
• School v school challenges: a teacher can challenge another league school. If the other school accepts, both schools can see each other’s school name, the challenge result and how many pupils skipped – never pupils’ names.
• Area challenges: an SGO can set a challenge for the schools in their area that share their numbers with them. The challenge table shows class names, school names and class results, like the public league tables, but never pupils’ names.
• Skipping time and home skipping: teachers can record how many minutes a class skipped (class, date, minutes and place only). Families can record skipping done at home from their child’s private family page (date, minutes and, if they wish, a 30-second count). Home skipping is only shown on that family page and as totals to the school; it never counts in the league tables.
• Young Leader scores: a teacher can make a leader code so that pupils acting as Young Leaders can enter playground scores on a school device at vsl.org.uk/leader, without an account. Anyone with the code sees only the first names and surname letters of pupils in the classes it covers, and can send scores. Those scores are held as waiting until a teacher at the school approves or rejects them. Teachers can switch a code off at any time. If the school has named its Young Leaders, the leader page also shows those leaders’ first names and surname letters so a leader can pick their own name; this lets the school count each leader’s sessions for their certificate and the School Games Mark report.
• Take-home cards and family links: a teacher can print a card for each pupil with a QR code to a private page for the family. The link contains a long random code; the page shows only the pupil's first name and surname letters, their skipping nickname (if they have one), class, personal best, best score in recent half terms and effort badges. It shows no surname, photo or contact details. A teacher can make new links for a class (the old ones stop working) and a school admin can switch family links off for the whole school.
• Feedback: when a teacher uses the Feedback button, we keep their message together with their name, email address and school, and email a copy to support@vsl.org.uk, so we can fix problems and reply. We ask teachers not to include pupils' full names or other details about children.
• Certificates: when printing a certificate, a teacher can choose to type a pupil's full name onto it. The full name stays in the teacher's browser, is used only for that print, and is never sent to us or stored.

Why we use it

• Pupil information is used only to run the league for the school: recording scores, showing each pupil's progress to their teachers, and calculating class averages and league tables. If a school records girl / boy, it is used only to show the school, in its School Games Mark evidence report, how many girls and boys are taking part (the School Games Mark asks schools to show equal opportunities for girls and boys). It is never shown on public tables or certificates. The school decides the lawful basis for this. For most schools it is their public task of providing physical education and activity.
• Staff and school information is used to provide logins, check that schools are genuine, and contact schools about the league. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests: running the league safely for the schools that join it.
• SGO information is used to tell each SGO when a school in their area joins the league, and to give SGOs who want one a login to see how schools in their area are taking part. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests: supporting school sport locally. Every email says how to stop receiving them. An SGO can also ask us to send a one-off invitation to a school in their area, on their behalf; we send at most 20 a day for each SGO and include a "Don't email me again" link (legitimate interests: helping schools hear about free school sport in their area).

Who can see it

• Pupils' names and nicknames are visible only to staff at their own school and to the league administrator.
• Public league tables show class names, school names, the number of pupils who have skipped, and each class's average or league points.
• Your School Games Organiser: when we approve your school we email your area's SGO to say it has joined (a school can tick a box when it registers to ask us not to). An SGO with a login can see, for the schools in their area only, each school's name, when it joined, its number of classes and pupils, how many pupils have skipped and how many scores have been entered, and each class's average, position and improvement. For the School Games Mark, an SGO can also see each school's number of pupils on roll, the share taking part, the number and share of girls and of boys taking part, and the purpose the school gave each round. SGOs never see pupils' names, nicknames or any single pupil's details.
• The public "Top pupils" table lists the fastest skippers in each year group with their position and best score, but never their name or nickname: each is shown only as "A pupil from" their school. Staff who are logged in see their own school's pupils' names in that table; they never see names from other schools.

Where it is stored and who helps us

• The league database, including all pupil information, is hosted in London (UK) by Supabase.
• The website pages are served by Netlify. No pupil information is stored there.
• Login, invitation and password-reset emails are sent from support@vsl.org.uk through our email provider, 123 Reg. These emails contain only the recipient's email address and a login link.
• These providers act on our instructions and are not allowed to use the data for their own purposes.

How long we keep it

• Pupil information is kept while the pupil is at the school, so that their progress can be seen from year to year. Schools remove pupils when they leave, and can delete any pupil at any time. As a safeguard, every September we automatically delete any pupil who has had no score for over a year.
• Staff accounts are kept while the person is a member of staff on the league. They are removed when the school removes them or asks us to.
• If a school leaves the league, we delete its pupils' information and staff accounts on request, and in any case within 12 months of the school's last activity.

Your rights

Schools can view, correct or delete their pupils' details at any time from the Classes & pupils page. Parents and pupils who want to see, correct or delete a pupil's information should contact the school first, as the school controls it; we will help the school respond. For any other request, or if you have a concern, contact us at support@vsl.org.uk. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).