How does your state primary organise paying for lunch etc?

[SarkyWench]

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?

Daily choice here. Either money on a daily/weekly basis or a cheque weekly/termly or ParentPay. The advantage I find with ParentPay is that if I change my mind the amount I've paid just rolls forward to when I do need it.

We have parent pay - I find it works very well in practice. I think the school still accepts cash from those who can't/won't use parent pay.

You can pay on an an envelope or you can ring the catering company directly and pay over the phone. Or log in to their websites. They send reminder emails if you need to pay more; which is a godsend.

The company is Harrison's catering

Daily choice here too. Kids can decide on a day by day basis if they want school dinner. They make their choice via the smartboard in the classrooms first thing in the morning. I get an email at the end of each month showing me which child has had which meal and then the payment is made at the end of the month by direct debit directly to the catering company. Perfect. At the infant school though for the youngest we are still using money in an envelope system at the beginning of each week.

Here is it daily and must be the correct money in a purse every day. (have had to raid the children's piggy bank many times to get £1.90 exactly)