Parent Pay

www.parentpay.com

INTRODUCTION

ParentPay is a secure online payment system that we are using to collect dinner money, paymnet for school trips and visits and Tree House Club.

In an attempt to remove cash and cheques from the school office, we are asking all parents to use this e-payment method to pay the school. You will have a secure online account, activated using a unique set of activation codes (please speak to Mrs Shaw in the School Office if you need a reminder).

Please click here for the Activation Guide. More than one child using ParentPay? Click here to Merge Accounts and use just one account (even if they are at different schools).

Making a payment is straightforward and ParentPay holds an electronic record of your payments to view at a later date; no card details are stored in any part of the system. Once you’ve activated your account you can make online payments straight away.

Parents who are unable to make payments online, or wish to continue paying in cash, can request a PayPoint Card. This will enable you to pay at any store which displays the PayPoint sign. Please be aware that payments made via PayPoint can take up to three days to be credited to pupil accounts. Please inform the school if you require a PayPoint Card. Please note that a PayPoint card can ONLY be used for school meals.

1. COMMUNICATION

Parentpay is now our preferred method of commication with parents and carers of pupils in school. It ensures that all information and school letters can be sent straight to you promptly and reliably by text message or email.

2. SCHOOL MEALS

Meals cost £2.50 per day or £12.50 per week. You can choose to pay weekly, monthly, per term or per year but you must have funds on account before a meal is taken. We do ask that your account is kept in credit at all times as we are unable to provide meals without payment.

3. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What does Parent Pay involve?

Parents do not pay for school meals, breakfast and after school clubs, or school trips with cash. ParentPay is an online system which allows parents to pay for these school items online using a credit and/or debit card or to pay cash at local stores through the PayPoint network.

All pupils at Rufford School have a ParentPay account. We ask parents to activate these individual online pupil accounts by visiting www.parentpay.com and use the unique username and password provided by the school.

How are school meals paid for?

When a pupil’s attendance is recorded, the information is uploaded to ParentPay and the charge is automatically added to their individual account.

Please credit your child’s account with funds for shool meals in advance of a meal being taken using a debit or credit card, or by requesting a PayPoint card to facilitate paying cash at local PayPoint network stores.

Please contact the school if you need your child’s account activation details.

My child is entitled to a free meal, how does it work?

The free meal allowance will be automatically credited to your child’s account each lunch time. You do not need to do anything. The allowance will not carry over to the next day if it is not used. We would encourage you to still activate your ParentPay account. If you think you may be entitled and would like to claim visit: http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/children-education-families/schools/free-school-meals

What if I want to continue to pay in cash at school?

Unfortunately,we will not be offering the facilities to accept cash (unless there are exceptional circumstances and this has been prearranged with the school). If you do not have access to your online account, please request a PayPoint letter with barcode as cash can be put on to your child’s account at any PayPoint outlet. The nearest PayPoint stores to school are:

Spar – 27 Liverpool Road North, Burscough, L40 5TN (2.57miles)

McColls – 6 Station Road, Croston, PR26 9RJ (2.75miles)

BP Station – 192 Briars Lane, Lathom, L40 5XE (3.05 miles)

Co-op – 71 Church Road, Tarleton, PR4 6UP (3.08miles)

What if I cannot access a computer to use ParentPay?

We are committed towards moving to a completely cashless system. If you do not have access to a computer then school can order a PayPoint card which can be used to pay for school meals. Should you need to pay for anything other then school meals then you will need to request a PayPoint letter with barcode as mentioned above. See the above regarding nearest PayPoint stores.

What do I need to do now?

ParentPay activation details have been sent out for all pupils. If you would rather use the PayPoint method of payment then you must contact the office to request a PayPoint card (and a “barcode” letter as an interim measure).

What do I do if I have forgotten/lost my activation username/password?

You can request replacement details from the school office.

Do I need separate accounts for each child at the school?

No. On the home page there is an Add a Child tab. Enter the username & password for the child you wish to add, click search and then click on Add child to your account.

What do I need to do if I would like my child to have a school dinner?

Firstly, we ask that you contact Mrs Shaw in the school office so that she can set up the correct meal pattern for your child. When your child’s attendance is entered into ParentPay a meal will then be logged against your child’s account and you will be able to view this later in the day. Your balance on ParentPay will decrease by £2.50 in payment for the meal.

Does my child have to have a school dinner every day?

No. If you provide a packed lunch, your child will not have a meal recorded against your account and your balance remains unaffected. We do however ask that if you do choose to have a school meal that you arrange this in advance with Mrs Shaw in the school office, and have money on your ParentPay account to pay for it.

What happens if my child has no money in their account?

Your child can still have a school meal. This MUST be paid back in full the next day either by adding funds to your ParentPay account or by taking cash to a PayPoint outlet (with accompanying letter or PayPoint card).

How much money should I put on my account?

It is up to you to choose how much money to put on the account but we would recommend a minimum of £11.00 to cover 5 days of school meals. You can set a reminder on your account to send you an alert either via a text message or email to remind you that your balance is low. If there is no money on your account, we will contact you via text or email to ask that you add money to your account. The school is unable to continue to provide meals without payment.

What cards can I use on ParentPay?

ParentPay accepts MasterCard and Visa credit cards and Maestro, Switch, Delta, Electron, Solo and Visa debit cards.

Is it safe to make payments on the internet?

Yes. In fact, it’s as safe to pay online with ParentPay as it is to use your credit card in a shop or over the phone. ParentPay uses leading technology to process your credit/debit card transactions securely. All communication with the bank is encrypted (jumbled up so no one else can read it). Neither ParentPay nor the school has access to your card details.

What about personal information?

ParentPay uses a very limited amount of information about you and your child solely for the purpose of administering your account; they do not share or give information to any other organisations. They operate under strict guidelines set out by the Data Protection Act 1998, which ensures the protection and care of personal information. This means that any information you give ParentPay electronically will only be used for the purpose that you intended.

ParentPay will NEVER contact you by phone, email or mail and ask you to divulge confidential information like passwords or card numbers. If you are ever contacted by someone claiming to be from ParentPay, please contact the school immediately.

Can I use my Childcare Vouchers to pay for dinner money?

If you are a working parent, your employer may offer childcare solutions – including childcare vouchers - which qualify for Income Tax and National Insurance exemptions (either in part or completely) providing certain conditions are met. Please refer to the HMRC website for further information: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/ir115.pdf. We can only accept childcare vouchers for payment of our Extended Services After School Club and Breakfast Club. The school cannot accept childcare vouchers in payment for any other school item or event including but not limited to trips and dinner money.

Can I pay for my child’s school trips and clubs using ParentPay?

We will shorltly be introducing Parentpay to include school trips and clubs. However clubs provided by a third party may still require cheque or cash along with permission slips.

Why has the school introduced ParentPay?

There are many benefits to this system:

You no longer need to find change in the morning
It allows you to pay for school meals, Treehouse Club and school visits anytime, anywhere
ParentPay is a highly secure payment site
It saves on administrative time; handling, counting and banking the cash we receive. Money from ParentPay is paid directly into our bank accounts instead
Banking cash and cheques has become much more difficult over the last 12 months. Therefore, it is now essential that we work towards receiving as many electronic payments as possible.
There is less cash on our premises
ParentPay has been successfully launched in other local primary and secondary schools. This enables parents with children at different schools within Lancashire to add up to six children to their account regardless of which school they attend.

Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you need assistance. Please see the quick links below for further help and guidance using ParentPay.

	Name	Format
Files

	ParentPay_update_info_25th_May1.pdf	.pdf
	How_to_view_payment_history.pdf	.pdf
	How_to_update_your_username_or_password.pdf	.pdf
	How_to_set_up_email_and_text_alerts.pdf	.pdf
	How_to_pay_for_items.pdf	.pdf
	How_to_add_a_child_or_merge_accounts.pdf	.pdf
	Adding_and_using_Parent_Account_credit.pdf	.pdf
	ParentPay_THC_booking_guidance_Sep21.doc	.doc