Headteacher: Mr R V Davies

September 2017

Dear Parent

Catering Arrangements at Comprehensive School

MCS has an efficient cashless payment system operating in our Food Hall. I am sure you will appreciate the advantages this system offers parents and students. In turn, Chartwells, our Food Hall provider is able to deliver an efficient and faster service while providing healthy, wholesome and enjoyable meals.

This is how it works:

Parents

You will be able to pay for your child’s meals by using our online payment system ParentPay (preferred method) by visiting www.parentpay.com (a secure accredited site) or if you do not have an Internet facility please contact the Finance Office on 01600 775171 to make a card payment or to discuss an alternative arrangement.

Please ensure that you have activated your ParentPay account (new users) and replied to the verification email for your email address held in ParentPay (all users). For existing users, please ensure that you are now using your email address as your Username.

Please contact Susan Stitt at [email protected] for a reminder of our Username/Password and any payment queries.

Free School Meals Allowance

If your child is entitled to a free school meal (FSM), £1.95 is automatically added to your child’s account daily. The allowance is intended for food purchases only; free water dispensers are available to students on site. This allowance can be used to purchase food at any point during the day (breakfast, break-time, lunchtime or a combination up to a maximum daily amount of £1.95). Additional funds can be added to your child’s account by using ParentPay online or a telephone payment – as above.

Our electronic systems ensure that entitlement to FSM is managed sensitively and that no child is identified as being in receipt of this allowance.

If you have not applied for Free School Meals but think you may be eligible, further information can be found on the County Council Website at https://forms.monmouthshire.gov.uk/officeforms/FSM1.ofml or telephone them on 01633 644508.

Old Dixton Road, Monmouth, Monmouthshire NP25 3YT

Telephone: 01600 775177 Fax: 01600 775151 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.monmouthcomprehensive.org.uk

Food Purchases

We have organised a Food Hall account for every student. Students have their finger scanned. This image is used to create a mathematical algorithm and then discarded. The image is not kept. The number created is the unique identifier on the account. The number cannot be reinterpreted back into an image.

Students make their selection from the Food Hall then proceed to one of the till points. When placing their finger on an image scanner, the student’s name, class and current account balance will be displayed for the till operator.

The student’s purchases are entered onto the system with the amount of money spent and the new cash balance displayed for information.

If a student finds themselves with no credit on their account, the school guarantees that no student will go without a meal. Food for that day may still be purchased and students will be reminded to ‘top-up’ before the next day.

Advantages of being ‘cashless’

 Security  Parentpay is available 24/7 to parents to ‘top up’ lunch accounts  Food Allergies can be catered for  Parents are able to set parameters against individual student accounts – An automatic maximum daily spend of £5.00 is allocated to each student’s account but individual limits can be set  Purchase of certain foods and ingredients can be prohibited on individual accounts

If you wish to set an individual limit for your child’s account or prohibit certain purchases please contact our Caterers, Chartwells on 01600 775163.

If you have any queries about how the system works, please contact Claire Whittaker, Finance Manager on 01600 775167, who will be delighted to speak to you.

Yours sincerely

R V Davies Headteacher