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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

How does your state primary organise paying for lunch etc?

30 replies

SarkyWench · 03/07/2012 09:00

Our primary still uses the old fashioned 'money in an envelope' system for parents to pay for dinners, school trips, activities etc.

Is this still the norm or are other schools using better automated systems? To be honest I 'd happily pay slightly more to avoid scrabbling around for coins on a Monday morning.

What is the norm these days?

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Hebiegebies · 03/07/2012 09:04

Primary school still uses envelopes but we can pay by cheque and for a whole term / half term at a time.

Same with trips, you can pay in instalments or one off by cash or cheque

Senior school uses PayPal, but not everyone likes this

To pay more will hit the poorest hardest IMO

RueDeWakening · 03/07/2012 09:13

DD's school uses the ParentPay website for everything - trips, meals, milk, school fund etc. Very handy as you don't need actual cash to do it.

For those who don't want to pay online, the shop round the corner from school has a PayPoint thing which they can use, not sure how that works though. I know they need a barcoded letter from school to use it.

Original poster

SarkyWench · 03/07/2012 09:14

Good point about paying more. I didn't mean to suggest that we shoudl shift to a system that necessarily makes it more expensive.
I was thinking of something like giving parents the option when they join the school to pay a one off fee to join an automated system.
But I guess that any kind of 'two-tier' system is difficult.

Maybe just better to figure out a way of having an automated system that isn't particularly costly and saves staff time. Is this possible?

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Original poster

SarkyWench · 03/07/2012 09:15

x posts.

Parent pay sounds ideal. Does it work well in practice?

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noramum · 03/07/2012 09:15

Parents can pay by cheque, the minimum is for one week. But the school also uses Parentmail for communication and payments. Each child has an account where dinner money and all other payments are logged and you pay by debit or credit card.

I prefer this as I can do it as soon as I get the email and don't have to wait until I am home and write a cheque and put it in DD's bookbag.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 03/07/2012 09:19

Ours us still all cash (or cheque), you can either pay up front for a term's worth of dinners or pay on a Monday morning. If you haven't got the right change (or accidentally order dinner for an INSET day) they just send the change back in an envelope via the child.

I keep a big pot of change on the hall table for all this stuff, just throw all my pound coins in there during the week.

Original poster

SarkyWench · 03/07/2012 09:19

Sounds good noramum
We have parentmail, but it is just used for letters to parents.

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nailak · 03/07/2012 09:22

I dont have a credit or debit card, so what would happen then? I dont have a cheque book either (do they still have them?)

redskyatnight · 03/07/2012 10:06

Cash or cheque in an envelope brought into school by Wednesday of the previous week. (order a week at at time)

noramum · 03/07/2012 11:08

Nailak: I assume they would accept cash as a cheque is actually a cash replacement just saver.

I still get a cheque book send to me every 6 months or so. I absolutely hate them but sometimes I am forced to pay with one (cleaner, handyman etc). I don't like having fast amounts (more than £50) of cash with me or at home.

Northumberlandlass · 03/07/2012 12:19

At DS primary school you have a choice. Either daily or weekly money pot, by term either by cheque or the ParentMail Pay Plus.

Lots of options but the school still has problems with outstanding lunch money.

titchy · 03/07/2012 12:33

On line via LEA's website (Surrey) or by cheque / cash to school office. Half termly or termly.

Secondary is cash / cheque given to child to top up card as often as necessary. Proposing on-line top up though.

ScallyFloss · 03/07/2012 12:57

Parentpay for everything at my DD's school.

overtherooftops · 03/07/2012 12:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

iseenodust · 03/07/2012 13:28

Parents' choice - either money every Monday morning or cheque for 1/2 term. I think they are very flexible as you can mix school / packed lunch in a week so long as you have ordered by the Monday.

mejon · 03/07/2012 13:30

Cash or cheque only at our school - but we are a tiny rural village school with only 35 pupils. I pay for school lunches by cheque every half-term and anything else as required.

Snoopkat · 03/07/2012 13:34

ParentPay for meals, but cash at the school office for trips etc.

You can top up ParentPay online, though I think you can also pay cash in the office if there is a problem.

We are a very big school. Kids just choose on the morning if they are having hot dinners. It just gets charged against your ParentPay

RackandRuin · 03/07/2012 13:41

We can use cash/cheques or parentmail. The electronic pay is good in theory, but we have to pay in £10's and not per meal. And as they don't tell you how much is on your account (we have to ask a stroppy receptionist) its difficult to manage.

The school is promising to improve it, but I'm not holding my breath.

Goolash · 03/07/2012 13:51

They've recently introduced online payments for trips etc it's great as ou can log on and see what's outstanding, also pay installments for the more expensive ones.

Next term we will have electronic payments for lunches, then we can pay for blocks of meals.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 03/07/2012 14:01

Ours is extremely flexible, you can just decide at the beginning of the week which days you want dinners and send the money in for those days. Even if you only decide say on a Weds morning that you need a dinner that day which you haven't paid for you can do that, but only as an occasional favour, they don't want people doing it all the time, but the office staff are brilliant at sorting it all out. For this degree of flexibility I am quite happy to faff about with cash and envelopes.

RosemaryandThyme · 03/07/2012 14:54

Cash in envelopes here.

Receptionist wont send out any idea of cost in advance, muddels the lists of which children have picked which lunch and gets in a right old state.

Great for parents though as everyone always gets something to eat, often having to try foods they wouldn't have picked, and there is always an incomprehensible note towards the end of each term in zippies saying please don't give us any more money as everyone has over-paid and is due free school meals till the end of term - its a glorious mess.

Frikadellen · 03/07/2012 15:02

School dinners are cheque weekly/monthly/termly or daily for Friday lunch.

Everything else is via parent mail or cheque/cash to the school. (with 90% of the parents using parentmail)

CouthyMow · 04/07/2012 07:24

You can pay in the office, by cash or cheque. You can pay in the classroom, by going in or by putting it in an envelope.

CouthyMow · 04/07/2012 07:27

You can decide on a Wednesday that your DC needs a hit dinner, and pay in the office that morning.

If you forget a lunchbox, you can ask for hot dinners, and pay when you are next at the school, if you have forgotten to pay for a dinner, they will send a letter after about a fortnight.

redlac · 04/07/2012 07:29

Cash in envelopes here and dinner money handed in daily

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