Parent Pay

Cashless catering is a computerised system whereby cash payments are not made at the till in the cafeteria. Spending is recorded against a pupil's account by the use of a fingerprint recognition system.

N.B. fingerprints are not stored but converted to an identification number.

The use of the fingerprint system allows the recognition of each individual pupil, holds individual cash balances, records cash spent and cash received, records where money is spent, on what food, on any specific date and time of day.

Money can be put onto a pupil's account using Parentpay (you will be provided with details, an individual login and password once your child is registered) or cash through the use of top-up machines located in the school.

For full details, please visit www.parentpay.com.

The system provides the following benefits:

  • Convenience of paying for school meals in advance. No more looking for change every morning.

  • Alleviates many of the associated problems with the use of cash in school.

  • Queuing times reduced through increased speed of service.

  • Automatic free meal allocation with the pupil remaining anonymous.

  • The school operates a Healthy Eating Policy; dietary information is recorded for pupils with allergies and other food intolerances.

  • Pupil's acquire important life skills by using a computerised system and being responsible for their own account.

How are the pupil's recognised by the system?

Each pupil will be issued with his or her own personal ID recognised by fingerprint. For added security, a Photo ID will be displayed at the point of sale in the cafeteria.

How is the ID used to obtain a school meal?

The fingerprint ID reader will show the pupil's name, value spent so far that day and the current balance held within the system. The selected food items will be entered into the system from an itemised keyboard while the new balance will show on the display.

How is money entered into the system?

  • Money can be put onto a pupil's account using Parentpay (you will be provided with details, an individual login and password once your child is registered) For full details visit https://www.parentpay.com/.

  • Insert ‘coins and notes’ into one of the two automatic cash units located in the school. Both units will accept coin denominations of £2, £1, 50p, 20p, 10p and one will also accept £20, £10 and £5 notes.

  • At one of the units, simply present finger to the reader to display the balance. There is no need to deposit money, just press the red button to finish.

  • A customer display at the point of sale will show the new cash balance when the food service has finished.

Log into Parentpay www.parentpay.com/

  • To show every item of food served and the total cost of each serving.

  • Individual payments made direct to the school in cash and manually entered into the system.

  • Each payment made in cash by the pupil.

  • A total overview to show the date, time and location with cost of each purchase, value of all cash payments, value of all cash deposited and current cash balance.

How does the payment unit work?

Firstly, the pupil presents their fingerprint to the reader mounted on the units to enter the system, which will display the pupil's name and current cash balance.

Secondly, coins and/or notes are inserted into the coin slot and/or note reader. Each incremental cash balance will show on the display. Press the red button to tell the system that the transaction is complete.

How will the pupil's be able to check their current balance held in the system?

In two ways:

  • At one of the units. Simply present finger to the reader to display the balance. There is no need to deposit money, just press the red button to finish.

  • A customer display at the point of sale will show the new cash balance when the food service has finished.

  • Logging into Parentpay https://www.parentpay.com/.

If we pay for a set number of meals/days, can it be spent in one day?

No, a ‘global’ spend limit of £5.00 per day will be set and automatically managed by the system. However, this may not be acceptable to all, so on request, an individual limit can be set if the school is informed in writing.

What about pupils entitled to a ‘free school meal’?

The system works exactly the same for all pupils whether they pay or have free school meals. There will be no queuing to be issued with a ‘free meal’ ticket or having the pupil's name entered into the ‘free meal’ register at the till point.

The amount allocated for the free school meal will be automatically added by the system to the entitled pupil's account on a daily basis. The free school meal allowance will only be available to spend during the lunch and break periods.

The pupil can also add extra cash onto their balance in the system by using the units. This will enable them a greater daily spend than simply the ‘free school meal’ allocation.

Will we be able to have any information on how the system is being used?

Reports can be obtained giving information on all aspects of use for each individual pupil. These reports can be for a specific day or between any dates - each listed transaction will be dated and timed to the minute.