new catering arrangements
three key improvements to academy's catering
May 2011
We are delighted to be able to let you know of three key improvements which we will be making in this Summer Term.
» New Hot Meals and Healthy Snacks
» Parent Pay
» Cashless Payment for Meals
New Hot Meals and Healthy Snacks
The Academy will be introducing the new offering of hot school meals from 6th June 2011 at the start of the final half term of this year. Working in partnership with Bucks County Council, the new food will bring attractive and healthy meals using carefully selected and quality local ingredients. Key features of this offering which we believe will deliver significant benefit to both students and parents include:
- Hot Meals cooked to a high standard which are both attractive and healthy. The meals will be cooked off - site and brought to the dining area in special temperature controlled storage.
- Menus will deliver a broad choice together with halal and vegetarian options.
- A healthy snack offering to be made available to students at break time in the morning.
- All food is carefully planned and analysed to ensure balanced nutritional content.
- Payment for food will be entirely cashless using the new "Parent Pay" system and fingertip reading system (described in more detail below).
- You will be able to see online what your child has bought for lunch together with the nutritional content.
- If your child has allergies they can be identified on the system which will allow alerts to any food content which may be unsuitable for them.
- Students on Free School Meals will see an identical process at the tills to all other students. They won't have to queue for a separate ticket and will be completely anonymous.
- Please note that students on Free School Meals will only be able to use their entitlement to purchase a hot meal at lunch time.
Summer Term Menus
View the menus on offer for the Summer Term, click here.
New Catering System Video
Take a look at other schools who have introduced this new catering system within our local authority - by watching this video promotion (click here).
Parent Pay is a system in schools nationally which brings the benefit to you of being able to pay for school meals, school trips, music lessons or any materials. Key features of the system which the Academy will be introducing from next term are:
- Parents will be allocated their own Parent Pay account through which payment can be made on the internet directly by credit or debit card. There is no charge for this as the Academy pays the charges. You will be able to see full details of your payments and the costs of school meals or other activities which you're paying for.
- For those who don't have access to the internet, the system offers a facility where you can be provided with a payment card which can be used in local shops to pay money on to your 'Parent Pay account using cash or credit/debit card.
- The Academy will also provide a computer on site for you to access the internet and pay money on to your Parent Pay Account by credit/debit card.
- Students who are entitled to Free School Meals will automatically have money put on their Parent Pay Account providing you have applied to the Academy in advance and entitlement verified. This has the added benefit that the process of paying at the tills for lunch is identical as all other students. We hope more of you will take up Free School Meals if you are entitled.
- The Parent Pay system will provide you with direct "real time" information on your child's choice of meal as well as future available menus.
- You can also pay for School Trips and other activities using the system and it will also be capable of obtaining parental consent directly on the internet.
ParentPay Website
For further information on the system, why not visit the ParentPay website (click here).
Cashless Payment for Meals - Fingertip Reading System
To allow for the cashless payment system for the New Hot Meals and Snack Offering as well as to provide a simple and efficient method of payment, the Academy will be introducing a safe and secure fingertip reading system to identify each student at the tills for their school meal or snack. Features of this system are:
- Each student will be registered on the system by
taking an initial biometric reading of their finger.
Taking such a biometric reading obviously raises
concern from a security perspective and it is there
fore crucial to note the following information about
biometric finger registration:
- Each individuals finger and thumb tip are unique. The Biometric cashless system will store only a section of the tip as a unique number and not as an image.
- Each child will have that unique number stored on a secure central server. This is done by scanning the finger or thumb with a scanner, which passes light over the finger or thumb.
- The picture will be stored numerically, as a set of between 20 and 50 reference points, unique to the individuals tip. The system does not store the image of the finger scanned. The stored reference points are only of use in matching part of the individuals tip and cannot be used for the purpose of reconstructing a tip.
- The numbers will be held in a secure database on the server. Access to this data base is given only by the Academy and will be limited to those who are required to administer the system.
- When taking a hot meal or snack, there will be a finger scanner at the till. To pay for the meal students will simply place their thumb / finger on the scanner and this will bring up their account. A display will show the person at the till the student's photo, name, tutor group and current cash balance of their account held by Parent Pay. The food they buy will be entered into the system and the money taken from the account.
Using the Biometric system will help to:
- Reduce the time queuing and waiting to pay for a meal.
- Eliminate the need for using cash.
- Use the same process for all students, whether or not they take Free School Meals.
- Provide information directly accessible for parents as to the food purchased by their child.
Summary
We believe that these three new services will significantly improve the experience of our students at the Academy, giving access to improved quality of food, give more control to you and offer a simple and easy payment system. We hope that you will all take up these very valuable offers.
Of course we don't want any parent or student to feel they must take up the new fingertip system and while we hope that you will accept this technology, we also fully respect and understand those parents who are not comfortable in using this feature. In this respect we will be ensuring that parental consent is expressly provided before we register any student.
In the mean time please do not hesitate to contact the Academy if you have any queries.
