Catering

 

 

 

 

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Application for Free School Meals

Students that are entitled to Free School Meals can also get a packed lunch if they are going on a school trip.  This will need to be pre-ordered with the kitchen staff

What is Cashless Catering ? This is a system of access cards which not only open the doors to the school but are used to pay for lunch in the canteen and to use the vending machines. You top up your card using the revaluing machines which are in the concourse and in the atrium. Simply put your card in the machine and then add the money you wish to put on the card. Alternatively parents can send in cheques which the office will add to the card. Things like Free School meals and staff duty meals will automatically be credited to the card.

 

Whats the Point ??

There are several advantages of the system :

Greater opportunity to influence eating patterns and promote healthy eating.
The cards give us the opportunity to restrict what students can buy. Vending machines can be banned for a particular student and items in the canteen flagged for warnings. For example you can program the card to not allow a student with ADHD to buy sweets from the vending machines at break or set warnings so that canteen staff would be reminded that a certain student is not allowed to buy chips - every time they use their card the kitchen staff would receive a reminder.
Similarly the card will record exactly what a child buys and we are able to allocate a bonus point system to healthy items, thus as they eat students accrue healthy eating points which in the future we hope to make redeemable against real rewards.

Better Flow in the Canteen
The card should be a more efficient and faster way to process students through the canteen. This should reduce queuing and result in faster service.

Better student safety.
As the money held is recorded centrally and not on the card students will not be carrying large amounts of money on them and will have to spend their money on food not cigarettes for example. Also parents can set a spending limit per day for a student so that they cannot binge on certain items.

What happens when a student loses their card ?

Part of the thinking behind this is that by giving value to the card it will encourage students to look after their cards better.

THE KITCHEN WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY CASH.

However if a student does lose their card they can obtain a replacement from the Student Office. Initially replacements will be free - but repeat offenders will be charged.