Getting started for SGOs – Virtual Skipping League

Before you start

Two things make signing up quicker.

Your work email addressIf you use the address your Active Partnership publishes for you as SGO, your login is ready the moment you confirm your email. Any other work address is fine too – we check it and approve it, usually in less than a day.
The name of your SGO areaAs your Active Partnership lists it, for example "Harrogate" or "North Dorset". If you cover more than one area, you can add up to four.

Get your free SGO login

Go to vsl.org.uk/sgo-join.
Your SGO area: start typing your area or Active Partnership and pick your area from the list. Add every area you cover. Can't find it? Email support@vsl.org.uk and we'll add it.
As soon as you pick an area, the panel on the right shows which schools are already in the league and which aren't yet (step 2 explains what you'll see).
Your details: your name, job title, host school or organisation, work email and a password (at least 10 characters). Tick the box to confirm you're the SGO, or work with the SGO, for that area.
Press Get my SGO login, then open the email from the Virtual Skipping League and click the link to confirm your address.
If your email matches the one your Active Partnership lists, your SGO view opens straight away. Otherwise you'll see a short waiting screen; we check it and approve it, usually in less than a day, and email you when it's ready.

Another SGO already covers your area? That's fine – areas can be shared. You'll see a note when you pick the area, and the other SGO gets a short email to say you've joined.

Also the PE lead at a school? Lots of SGOs are, and you only need one login. Once your SGO view is open, press ＋ Add my school (on the Overview page or in the menu) and find your school – register it if it isn't in the league yet, or ask to join if a colleague already has. It goes on the same email and password. Then use the switch at the top of the menu, 📍 SGO view | 🏫 My school, to move between the two. Already registered your school as a teacher? Log in first, then sign up at vsl.org.uk/sgo-join – the SGO view is added to the login you already have.

Check your area

What you see depends on whether any of your schools have joined yet.

A. No schools in yet Most likely – the league is brand new

The area check says "No schools yet". That's normal: in most areas, you'll be the one who gets schools started.
Underneath is the list of primary schools in your area that haven't signed up yet. That's your invite list – it's waiting for you in your SGO view.
Your SGO view will be quiet until schools join. Its Overview shows your first steps, starting with inviting your schools.

B. Some schools already in

The area check lists the schools already in the league, with the date each one joined. Schools that chose not to be named are counted but not named.
Once you're signed in, their classes, pupils and goes are on Your schools, and their numbers on School Games Mark – unless a school has chosen not to share with its SGO.
Everyone else is on your invite list.

A school missing, or in the wrong area? In your SGO view, open Invite schools → Can't see one of your schools? to search the national list and add schools we couldn't place. If a school is in the wrong area, email support@vsl.org.uk.

Invite your schools

Open Invite schools in your SGO view. Your area's primary schools are listed and ticked off as they join.

Tick the schools you want to invite. The chips filter the list: Not invited yet, Invited, In the league.
Choose how to send:
- Write the invite in my email – your email app opens with the invite written. Add the schools' addresses, send it, then press Mark as invited so you can keep track.
- Send from VSL… – type each school office's email address and we'll send it from support@vsl.org.uk on your behalf, with a note from you if you like. Replies come to you. Up to 20 a day.
Every invite carries your sign-up link. Schools that register through it are linked to you and have their area filled in. You can also copy the link into a newsletter or bulletin.

Help your schools get going. Point them to the schools' getting-started guide and video at vsl.org.uk/start. Setting up takes a school about 20 minutes, and we usually approve new schools in less than a day.

Set an area challenge

Once a few schools have joined, give them a competition they can take part in from their own playground. Because you run it as the SGO, it can count as inter-school competition towards your schools' School Games Mark.

Open Area challenges → New area challenge.
Give it a name and choose how a class wins: best class average, most improved or most active (goes per pupil – every attempt counts).
Set the dates (up to 13 weeks), the year groups and the School Games purpose, then save.

Schools see it on their dashboard straight away, with their classes' positions. It uses the scores they already record – there's nothing extra for them to do.

Use the numbers

Overview – schools sharing with you, pupils skipping and goes this round, and schools that may need a nudge.
League tables – your area's School Cup, class tables and, when each round closes, the champions.
School Games Mark – taking part, girls and boys, SEND and pupil premium, the expected standard and least active pupils, with a Download for your KPI return (CSV) button.

After each half-term round closes, you'll also get an email with your area's results – ready to share with your schools or in your newsletter.

Every page in your SGO view has a ❓ How it works button, and a Feedback button in the menu sends us a message.

Stuck? Email support@vsl.org.uk, or use the Feedback button once you're logged in.

Your School Games area in the league