Cowley Language College

The Cashless School Meals System was introduced to Cowley Language College in June 2009

We are pleased to announce that from Wednesday 17^th February 2010, you will be able to top up your child's cashless catering account at any of St.Helens Council's payment locations.

Please take time to read this supporting information around the cashless school meals system and how to make a payment.

If you have read the supporting information previously you may top up your child's account now!

Go to Payments Now

What is a Cashless System?
At the heart of the cashless system there is a computer controlled by I.M.P.A.C.T. - Software.  This allows the system to recognise each individual pupil, hold individual cash balances, record cash spent and cash received record where money is spent, on what food, on any specific date and time of day.

How are pupils recognised by the system?
Each pupil will have their fingerprint registered which will then be translated to an Alpha Numeric number, the image is then discarded, when used this will then enter them into the system program and identify them by a number.

How is this then used to obtain a school meal?
The Pupil simply places their finger on a scanner at the point of sale; a display will show the server the pupil's name, class and current cash balance held within the system. 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.

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In order to use any of the new payment methods, you will need to know your child's payment reference number.

What Is a Payment Reference Number?
The payment reference number is a unique reference assigned to your child's account. Every child using the cashless catering facility, will be allocated an individual payment reference number. This will have been provided in the form of a notification letter from Cowley College.

The number has 10 digits, and will only be acceptable to make a payment in the format shown on the letter.

You should keep this in a safe place and have it at hand, should you want to make a payment, other than at the school site.

What if I lose / forget the Payment Reference No?
If you should lose your details, please contact the school directly, who will re-issue this letter.

Unless you are sending cash into the school, you will need specific details to make a payment using any of the methods detailed above.

You will notice at the beginning of this letter, we have provided details of your child's

• Surname
• Forename
• ClassPayment
• Reference No

You will need Surname, Forename and class details, if you pay via the internet.
For all methods of payment, you will need the Payment Reference number.

Payments are processed just after 5.00pm,Monday to Friday(except bank holidays) and are then made available to the cashless catering system before 10.00am the following processing day, as per table above.

The system will start in operation on - Wednesday 17^th February 2010, which is in the middle of the half-term break.

This is so that parents may take advantage of the new payment feature during the break and in readiness for their child's return to school on Monday 22^nd February 2010.

Top-ups will be normally accepted using any of the following payment methods:

By Cash - Cowley Language College
Cash payments may be made at any of the College's automatic cash terminals.
Cash cannot be used to buy food directly at the dinner counters.
The automatic cash terminals are programmed to accept
£20 - £10 - £5 Notes £2 - £1 - 50p - 20p - 10p coins.

By Telephone
You may make a debit / credit card telephone payment by contacting the Council's Contact Centre on 01744 456789.

You will need the details of your child's payment reference number, their name and class, and should provide them to the operator when asked.

You may also use the Council's Automated Telephone Payment service on 01744 671699.
You will need the details of your child's payment reference number, and of course your debit / credit card details.

In Person
At the St.Helens Council's Wesley House Payments Office, you may make a payment by cash, cheque, postal order, debit or credit card.

At any Council's participating Library facilities, who will accept debit/credit card payments only.

Internet
You may make a credit/debit card payment  at www.sthelens.gov.uk using the Pay For It facility.

A link to the payment facility can be found on the college web site, and by Clicking on the

'Pay For It' text on the Council's web site home page.

If you have made payments using the alternative methods -  that is for those you have not paid at Cowley Language College by cheque, or by automatic cash terminals, AND your child has a positive balance on their cashless account:

You must notify the school, and they will request a refund on your behalf.

You will be asked to provide your contact details in order for the Council's Income Section to contact you to arrange the necessary refund to your debit / credit card.

Details should be provided to the school, and should only consist of your Name and Contact telephone number. Your account details are not required, until you are contacted by the Council's Income Section, who will then carry out the refund.

Reports can be obtained from the system giving comprehensive information on all aspects of use for each individual pupil as well as each day's service.  These reports can be for a specific day or between any dates you wish, they will be dated and timed to the minute, and can be obtained from the Catering Department.     

• To show every item of food served and the total cost of each serving.
• Individual payments made direct to the school by cheque, cash, manually entered into the system, along with any of the new payment methods.
• Each payment made by cash at the revaluation station by the pupil and if required, even the number of individual coins and the denomination.
• A total overview to show the date, time and location with cost of  each purchase, value of all manual cheque or cash payments, value of all cash deposited in the revaluation station and current cash balance

Any amount of money can be paid into your account held within the system, money spent on food will be taken out of the system and you can always check by using the revaluation terminal to see how much you have left.  

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 secretary.

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