Playground Skipping Leaders

Playground Skipping Leaders are Year 5 and 6 pupils trained to run skipping at playtime: turning the long rope, getting games going, teaching younger children and looking after the kit. Training takes one hour. After that the scheme runs itself, and each summer this year’s leaders help train the next.

Free when you register your school. Registering also gives you the lesson tasters and 10% off every order.

• Why leaders
• The four roles
• Choosing leaders
• The training hour
• Games
• Week to week
• Safety
• Questions

Why pupil leaders work

Older pupils who start games and teach younger ones can get more children moving, without another adult on the playground. The idea isn’t new. The government’s 2019 School Sport and Activity Action Plan said volunteering schemes can help pupils develop skills like “leadership and self-efficacy” while they support their school, for example by “encouraging other pupils to participate in active break times”.⁴ This year the DfE’s PE and sport premium toolkit suggests schools “implement a play leader programme that encourages all pupils to take part in creative and inclusive active play”.³

Skipping leaders build on what research says helps at playtime: equipment that comes out every day⁷ and games that someone gets going. In an American trial of Playworks, which brings an adult coach onto the playground to organise games at recess, girls were more active and less likely to be sitting or standing still; there was no significant difference for boys.⁶

The four roles

Leaders learn all four and take turns, so everyone gets to coach and everyone counts the kit.

Choosing your leaders

1. Invite applicationsA short form in Year 5 or 6: why they’d be a good leader, and which role they’d like most. The pack has one.
2. Choose a mixNot just the best skippers. Good leaders are kind, patient and reliable. Choose girls and boys equally, and some pupils who don’t usually get chosen.
3. Train them togetherOne hour with a teacher, using the session plan below.
4. Make it officialThe leaders’ promise, a badge, and an announcement in assembly.

The training hour

Run it in the hall with a long rope, a pair of Double Dutch ropes and a rope for each leader. Leaders can also come free to a skip-hop skipping training day, so staff practise teaching real pupils and the leaders learn alongside them.

Games leaders run

Start with games that need no skill with your own rope, then add more as leaders gain confidence. Each one has its own coaching page; the pack has a card for each to take outside.

• Wiggly worms Reception and KS1
• Under the Moon Reception and KS1
• Skipping inside a long rope KS1
• Running into the long rope Years 2 to 4
• Figure of Eight Years 3 to 6
• Cluster jump Years 3 to 6
• Teddy Bear rhyme Everyone
• 30-second challenge Years 1 to 6

Week to week

• A rota on the wall. Two leaders in each of the skipping and long rope zones at lunchtime. With 10 to 12 leaders, each is on duty about twice a week, so nobody misses all their own playtimes.
• Kit out, kit in. The Kit Keeper counts the ropes out and back in, and tells the adult on duty if any are missing.
• A ten-minute leaders’ meeting each week: what went well, who needs help, which game to try next.
• Scores that count. In the Virtual Skipping League, Young Leaders can send in playtime scores for a teacher to approve, so the class gets credit.
• Copy Hoppy at wet play. Leaders put Copy Hoppy on the classroom whiteboard and lead the class while Hopkins skips.
• Celebrate. Leader of the week in assembly, and a certificate at the end of the year.
• Pass it on. In the summer term, Year 4 apprentices shadow the leaders, ready for September.

Safety and responsibility

Questions people ask

What age should playground leaders be?

Year 5 and Year 6 pupils usually make the best skipping leaders: they are old enough to turn a long rope steadily and to teach younger children. Some schools add Year 4 “apprentices” in the summer term to take over in September.

How many playground leaders does a school need?

Ten to twelve is a good number for one playground. Two leaders in each of the skipping and long rope zones at lunchtime makes four a day, so each leader is on duty about twice a week and still has most of their own playtimes.

How do you train playground leaders?

In one hour with a teacher: what leaders do and the safety rules, turning a long rope and counting skippers in, teaching a first skill to a younger child, running the 30-second challenge, and the kit routine. The leaders pack has the session plan, and leaders can also join a skip-hop training day for free.

Are pupil leaders in charge of the playground?

No. An adult on duty is always in charge. Leaders run games, help younger children and look after the kit, and they tell an adult straight away if someone is hurt or upset.

Does a playground leaders scheme count for the School Games Mark?

At Gold, the School Games Mark 2026/27 asks whether you have “a formal structure to engage your young people through Sports Leaders, School Games Crews or Committees” and use them to support your offer. A trained, rota’d group of skipping leaders is one way to show it. Your SGO verifies the application.

Is the leaders pack free?

Yes, for registered schools. Registering your school is free and also gives you the lesson tasters and 10% off every order.

Sources

1. School Games Mark 2026/27 criteria, Your School Games
2. Leadership and volunteering: the School Sport Organising Crew, Your School Games
3. PE and sport premium transition toolkit, Part C, Department for Education, on the Youth Sport Trust website
4. School Sport and Activity Action Plan (2019), DfE, DCMS and DHSC
5. The PlayMaker Award, Leadership Skills Foundation
6. The impact of Playworks on boys’ and girls’ physical activity during recess, Mathematica; Journal of School Health 85(3), 2015
7. Verstraete et al. (2006), providing game equipment at recess, European Journal of Public Health 16(4)