Co-Curricular is PortalHQ’s biggest module by far — it runs every co-curricular activity at the school. Sports teams, music ensembles, clubs, individual tuition. From signups at the start of the term through to roll-marking at every session and the SMS that fires when a student doesn’t turn up.
If your school runs co-curricular, this is where most of your weekly admin happens.
The core hierarchy
Four nested concepts make up the data model:
| Level | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Activity | A standing offering at the school. Football, Choir, Debating. Doesn’t change term to term. | Football |
| Activity Group | A specific instance of the activity in a specific term/year. The signup window, the cost, the year groups. | Football 2026 Term 2 |
| Team | A grouping within an activity group. The actual teams students play in. | Under 15A, Under 15B, Open Firsts |
| Session | A single match, training or rehearsal. Has a date, venue, opposing team (if applicable) and roll. | Under 15A vs. Riverside, 4 pm Saturday |
You build out the structure once per activity per term — Activity → Activity Group → Teams — then run sessions and mark rolls every week.
See General overview of groups and teams for a deeper look at the structure.
Who does what
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Co-curricular coordinator | Sets up activities, activity groups, teams, venues, participating schools and the signup windows. |
| Teachers in Charge (TIC) | Day-to-day owner of one or more activity groups. Manages signups, assigns staff and students, schedules sessions. |
| Coaches and staff in charge | Run the sessions: mark rolls, send alerts, record incidents, enter scores. |
| Office / admin staff | Process signups, follow up unexplained absences, run reports. |
| Parents and students | Sign up to activities via the parent/student portal and the mobile app. |
The setup workflow
Done once per activity, usually before the term it runs in:
- Set up the activity itself if it’s new. See Setting up activity content.
- Create the activity group for the term. See Setting up activity groups.
- Set up teams for the group. See Setting up teams.
- Configure venues the activity uses. See Setting up venues.
- Add participating schools if it’s a competitive sport. See Setting up participating schools.
- Assign Teachers in Charge to the activities. See Assigning teachers in charge to activities.
The term-time workflow
- Open signups when ready and manage the signups as they come in. See Managing signups.
- Assign staff, coaches and students to teams. See Assigning staff, coaches and students to groups.
- Schedule sessions (fixtures and trainings). See Setting up fixtures.
- Configure parental permissions for venue-specific rules. See Recording parental permission flags.
- Set up automatic SMS for unexplained absences. See Setting up automatic SMS for unexplained absences.
The day-of workflow
For every session:
- Mark the roll. See Administering rolls and attendance.
- Record known absences ahead of time. See Creating known absences.
- Send alerts as needed. See Sending alerts.
Mobile app
Parents and students have a dedicated mobile app where they see their (or their child’s) activities, fixtures, schedules and roll status. See Using the mobile app.
A quick mental model
Think of co-curricular as a relational shape that’s the same at every school:
- Activities are the catalogue of what’s on offer.
- Activity groups are the terms each activity runs in.
- Teams are the rosters within a term.
- Sessions are the events that fill the calendar.
Everything else — signups, alerts, attendance, permissions, scores — hangs off this structure.