Parents may use ParentPay to make payments to the school – for trips, music lessons, prom etc – by debit or credit card. Paying by this method avoids the need for students to carry cash, prevents loss and saves them having to remember to hand it in! It also allows parents to make the payment at their convenience and keep a check on how much has been paid on trips etc.
We anticipate that this will be the only method of payment for those items. This can be done online using the ParentPay secure website, or in cash at local stores where you see the Pay-Point logo.
Every parent has been allocated a unique log in ID; if for any reason you do not have your ID, or have any problems using the site, please call the school finance office or email finance@stgeorgesblackpool.co.uk.
A link to the ParentPay home website is https://www.parentpay.com/Parents/Login/
NEW TO PARENTPAY
You have a secure online account, activated using a unique activation username and password; you will be prompted to change these and to keep them safe and secure as your Username and Password for future logins.
Please visit www.parentpay.com and activate your account via the Account login area on the homepage of the site.
If you have two or more children at a ParentPay school, you only need to activate one account to create your ‘main account’ and then add your other children via the Add a child tab on your home page.
EXISTING ACCOUNT - MOVING SCHOOL
You are able to retain your existing account when your child moves to St George’s from a school which also uses ParentPay. Before you do this you must have new login details from us.
If you have these please follow these instructions
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Log out of all your ParentPay accounts
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Login to one account, this will become your ‘main account’ username and password
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Click on the Add a child tab on the homepage of your account
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Enter the username and password for the child you wish to add
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Click Search
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Click Add child to your account to confirm
If you have more children that you would like to add to the account simply follow the above process until you have added all your children.
You will now see the child moving schools on 2 tabs, 1 for each school.
Meal Choices
A wide variety of tasty and nutritionally balanced meal choices are offered by our catering team, Aspens at morning break for years ten and eleven and at lunchtime for all pupils.
All meals, whether from the catering team or a packed lunch, are eaten in our refectory. Students who prefer a packed lunch are not allowed to bring fizzy drinks or large share bags of crisps/sweets into school.
Payment
The Academy operates a cashless system for the catering service it offers to staff and students. The system enables us to deliver a more efficient, faster service and to continue to provide wholesome, healthy, and enjoyable meals at the lowest cost.
What are the benefits?
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The system is very fast – till operators can register slightly more than eight meals per minute. By speeding up service in the canteen, pupils receive their meals faster and have more time to eat them.
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Alerts can be set which notify catering staff if a pupil accidentally tries to buy unsuitable food - very important in cases of allergies or other dietary conditions.
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Parents/carers can access reports on their child's eating habits via ParentPay. These can show how much money was paid in and when, how much was spent on food and when and even detail each individual item purchased.
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Pupils entitled to free meals use the same system as everyone else, and there is nothing that identifies to other people which students are receiving free meals. The stigma which youngsters may feel about free tickets is completely removed.
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The monetary value and information associated with each account relates to that individual student only. It cannot be spent or accessed by other pupils.
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A daily spend limit of £5.00 (or other selected amount) can be set for all pupils and no food above that limit can be bought. On request, an individual pupil’s limit of your choice could also be set, to include a school dinner and break time.
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No pupil will be refused a school dinner because they do not have credit on their account. A meal will be provided on the first occasion and the parent/carer will be contacted to request payment to cover the meal and future meals.
HOW TO USE THE CASHLESS CATERING SYSTEM
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Use ParentPay the Academy’s online payment system – this updates your child’s account within the cashless catering system. Please note, although credits to ParentPay are automatic, the updates from ParentPay to the cashless catering system can take up to 30 minutes and at lunchtime this can take longer. So please ensure funds are allocated in good time.
Operating the cashless catering system - Biometrics (facial recognition and fingerprints)
Advantage of Biometrics
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Pupils do not need to remember to bring anything with them to the refectory; it removes the need for plastic cards that can be lost or utilised by other pupils.
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Facial scans are a faster method of identification. Pupils are able to move through the tills in the canteen more quickly, allowing increased time to sit and enjoy their meal. For those Parents/Carers that do not wish to give permission for facial recognition to be used, there are alternatives available such as fingerprint scanning or manual identification via a PIN.
Parents/Carers of new pupils will receive a letter inviting them to set up their ParentPay account - if you have an account from your child's primary school, this can be linked. If you require any further information, please contact our school office.
Pupils' ParentPay meals accounts should stay in credit at all times; if it is the case that your child does not have enough money on their account for a meal, they will be allowed to go into debt for this meal and must ensure there are sufficient funds for the following meal.