Westcliff High School for Boys (together with Westcliff High School for Girls) use a cashless catering system. This system allows us to continue with the development of the school meal service, and provides us with a more efficient, faster and, ultimately, better quality of service whilst also removing the problems around forgetting dinner money. Cashless catering systems are being used successfully at around 5,000 schools across the UK.

This system incorporates the latest technology and eliminates the need for pupils to carry cash throughout the day. As it is also a biometric system (see FAQ document), there is no need for pupils to carry a card as the system will recognise the thumb of your child at the tills. In addition, free school meals are automatically registered on the system.

The system allows for any amount of money to be paid into a pupil’s account via ParentPayand the money spent on food and drink will be deducted on a daily basis. Dining Hall payments will have to be made by topping up your child’s catering account on ParentPay.    A daily ‘spend limit’ of £7 will be programmed into the system. This can be increased or decreased for an individual pupil by making a written request to the School’s Finance Office. Through ParentPay, you will be able to see what food and drink your child has purchased.

As per current legislation, we will be operating an ‘Opt In’ policy and therefore require you to check the relevant consent box on the ‘Required Details’ form. If you choose not to have your child registered on the Biometric System, a 4-digit PIN code will be allocated.  Please note that PIN codes do not have the same level of security and it will be your child’s responsibility to remember the code and keep it secure at all times. The preference of the School is to use biometrics as this is more secure and faster than other methods of identification and we would be grateful for your co-operation with regards to this matter.  The FAQ document should answer any questions you may have but if this is not the case, then please Mr S Rothon through the School Office.