The four-level hierarchy — Activity, Activity Group, Team, Session — is the thing that trips up new staff most often. This article is a quick reference for the structure and what changes at each level.
The hierarchy
Activity (long-lived catalogue entry)
└── Activity Group (per term/year)
├── Teams (rosters within the group)
│ └── Students assigned to each team
└── Sessions (fixtures, trainings, rehearsals)
└── Roll (attendance per session)
What each level represents
Activity
The standing offering. Football, Choir, Chess Club.
- One per offering across all time.
- Holds the name, description, colour, icon, default price and eligibility.
- Doesn’t carry signup or roster data.
Activity Group
A specific instance of the activity in a specific term. Football 2026 Term 2.
- One per activity per term (sometimes one per activity per year for year-long activities).
- Holds the signup window, price, capacity, year-group restrictions and T&Cs for this term.
- Generates the Newsroom mailing tag.
- Is where you point staff and parents to actually sign up.
Team
A roster within an activity group. Under 15A, Open Firsts.
- One per team in the activity group.
- Holds the student roster, the coach, the default venue and the team-level metadata.
- Optional — activity groups can run with No teams if everyone does the same thing.
Session
A single event — fixture, training, rehearsal.
- One per scheduled occurrence.
- Holds the date, venue, opposing team (if a fixture), and the roll.
Where each level lives in the menu
| Level | Where to find it |
|---|---|
| Activity | Co-Curricular → Activities |
| Activity Group | Co-Curricular → Activity Groups or under the parent activity |
| Team | Under the parent activity group |
| Session | Under the parent activity group, or on the calendar |
Common questions
Should new students go on the activity or the activity group?
The activity group. Signups, team assignments and rolls all live there. The activity is the catalogue label, not the place students sit.
How do I move a student from one team to another?
Move within the activity group — both teams are children of the same group. See Setting up teams.
How do I move a student from one activity group to another?
You don’t move — you withdraw from one group and add to the other. Each group is term-specific and the signup data lives on the group, not on the student.
Why does each term have its own activity group?
Because almost everything that varies — price, capacity, signup window, teams, sessions — varies per term. Keeping it per-term makes year-over-year reporting clean.
Can one student be in multiple teams?
Yes, within the same activity group. Add the student to each team. Their attendance is tracked per team.
Can one student be in multiple activities?
Yes — and most are. Football and Choir and Debating are three separate activities each with their own activity groups. A student can be in all three.
What about activities that run all year?
Either a single year-long activity group (simpler) or one per term (more granular reporting). Most schools use term-by-term for sports and year-long for music ensembles.
What if my activity has no teams at all?
Tick No teams on the activity group. Students sit directly on the group with no intermediate team layer. Used for choirs, clubs, debating squads.
Naming conventions that help
- Activities use the bare name: Football, Choir.
- Activity groups suffix the term: Football 2026 Term 2.
- Teams use grade or position: Under 15A, Tenor Section.
The consistency makes search, reporting and parent communication much easier.