An Insight to the Cashless School Meals System At College High Specialist Arts School

What is a Cashless System?

At the heart of the cashless system there is a computer software program.  This allows the system to recognise each individual student, hold individual cash balances, record cash spent and cash received plus, record where money is spent, on what food, on any specific date and time of day.

How are students recognised by the system?

Each student will be issued with their own personal card, which when used, will enter them into the system programme and identify them by a number encoded within the card. Every card will have the holders name and photograph on for extra security.

How is the card used to obtain a school meal?

The card is held next to a card reader by the catering assistant. The selected food items will be entered into the system from an itemised keyboard while the amount spent and the new cash balance will show on the display.

How is money entered into the system?

By ‘Cheque’ payment made to ‘Aspens Services Ltd’ via the Catering Office to cover any period.

For example:-

• One whole Term
• 1/2 Term
• One Month or Week
• Or a fixed monetary amount of your own choice. 

A Post box to receive payments will be located in each dining room.

PLEASE PUT THE STUDENT NAME AND CARD NUMBER ON THE BACK OF ANY CHEQUES, AS WELL AS ON THE FRONT OF THE ENVELOPE

By cash or cheque at the till points at Breakfast service only – in the Upper School Dining Room.

How will the student be able to check what the current cash balance is held in the system at any one time?

• By checking at a till point when topping up their card at either morning break or breakfast.
• At the end of a transaction, the cashier will notify the student of their balance.

If we pay for a set number of school meals, can it be spent in one day?

No, a daily spend limit of £4.00 will be set for all students and no food above that limit can be bought. On request, an individual student limit of your choice could also be set, to include a school dinner and break time snacks.

This all sounds very well, but what about the student entitled to a ‘free school meal’?

The system works exactly the same for all students whether they pay or have a free school meal.  All students are issued with a card that they will be able to use in exactly the same way. The amount allocated for the free school meal will be entered into the system by the software daily and will only be accessible at the lunchtime break.

The student can also add extra cash on to his or her balance in the system by going to a till at breakfast or morning break service - to enable a greater daily spend on the school dinner than allocated by their free meal allowance. As this allowance can only be spent on a school lunch, extra cash added into the system can also be used for break time snacks.

There will be no more queuing to be issued a ‘free meal’ ticket.

What happens if the card is lost/stolen or forgotten?

Lost or Stolen Card
The card needs to be reported to the Caterers immediately – so that the card can be flagged as lost, and any amount remaining on the card frozen and transferred to a new card. 
Replacement cards will cost £2.00

Forgotten Cards
No student will go hungry if they have forgotten their card.  A record of the name will taken – along with the amount purchased.  This will be a loan that will need to be paid back the next day.  If it becomes a common occurrence, the parents/carer will be notified.

How will ‘healthy eating’ be encouraged?

After the new system has been operating for a while, we hope to enhance the school’s ‘healthy eating policy’.  When the food is selected on the server’s keypad, it will also register points for a balanced, healthy and nutritious school dinner.              A promotional calendar of events encouraging and rewarding healthy eating will be advertised.

What is meant by ‘dietary control’?

Should the student have a specific food allergy, or be a diagnosed diabetic, this medical information can be coded into the system, preventing foods with allergy ingredients from being served to a particular student, by automatically locking out relevant buttons on the keyboard.

Data Handling
Certain data will be held on the system to enable accurate operation. This will include your child’s name, class, photo, account balance and meal entitlement. This data will be handled under the guidelines of the data protection act and only used by parties directly involved with the implementation of the system. If you have any concerns please contact the school office.

Features of the cashless school meal system relating to parents and students

• Convenience of paying for school meals.  No more looking for change every morning.
• Discourages the misuse of school dinner money through spending in shops outside of the school grounds.   
• Alleviates many of  the associated problems with the use of cash in schools.  i.e.:  Loss, theft and bullying.
• Specific food allergy ingredients can be barred automatically providing details are provided to the school.
• Healthy eating is encouraged.
• Queuing times are reduced through increased speed of service.
• Automatic free meal allocation with the student remaining anonymous.    
• Detailed reports to analyse all aspects of the use of the system.
• A more efficient delivery of service helps the caterer to provide wholesome, healthy and enjoyable school meals at a low cost