At Rooks Heath we use a biometric system as the preferred method to purchase lunch or take books out of the Library. This system operates using fingerprint recognition to identify individual students. It replaces the need for students to bring cash to College, where it might be lost and also replaces the need for library cards; the student simply has their finger scanned and their details appear on the screen in the Rookery or the Library. Parents and carers are encouraged to log in to ParentPay to pay for meals electronically. The system also provides a historic record of items that have been purchased so that parents and carers can monitor what their children are buying. This is a first step towards making the whole college a cash-free environment.
Parents who prefer to make payments by cheque may do so. Please see below for details. Parents who prefer to make payments by cash may do so using the PayPoint network at local convenience stores.
ParentPay offers you the freedom to make payments whenever and wherever you like, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - safe in the knowledge that the technology uses the highest Internet security available.
You will have a secure online account, activated using a unique username and password; you will be prompted to change these, and to keep them safe and secure. If you have more than one child at our college, you can merge their accounts to create one login for all your children.
Please notify the College if you wish to use the PayPoint facility. A plastic card will be issued to you to make cash payments for Rookery meals at local PayPoint stores. The first card is free of charge; however, any lost or damaged cards will be charged at £5.00 each. Payment cards take about 2 weeks to arrive but we can issue a barcoded letter as an interim measure.
We hope you will support us in achieving our goal to become a cashless site. Your support in using ParentPay will help the College enormously.
Cheque payments for meals can be made in the Rookery in the secure box provided. Please make cheques payable to Harrison Catering Services Ltd (the caterers in the Rookery). These cheque payments are also recorded in your ParentPay online account, giving you a record of all payments you have made regardless of which payment method you use.
At the heart of the biometric cashless system is a software program which recognises each individual customer, holds individual cash balances and records expenditure and cash received. It also records where and when money is spent and on what food.
All students and staff will be registered by biometric measurement and photograph. The biometric measurement takes a part image of some of the key coordinates unique to every individual's finger. This information is then converted, encrypted and stored as a unique number. This data cannot be converted back into any image of a fingerprint, nor can it be used by any other source for identification purposes. This is similar to the process used in the library to ensure books taken out are recorded against the correct name. The registration of new students will commence when students start in September.
Certain data will be held on the system to enable accurate operation. This will include the student's name, tutor group, photo, account balance, meal entitlement and the biometric number. Other than the biometric number, this data is already held on the college's administrative systems. All the data will be handled under the guidelines of the Data Protection Act. The data will only be utilised for the purposes of the cashless catering system and the library, and will be destroyed when the data is no longer relevant (such as when a student leaves the college).
Once you have received your activation letter from the College with your activation login details you will be able to activate your account and start making payments.
ParentPay accepts MasterCard and Visa credit cards, and Maestro, Switch, Delta, Electron, Solo and Visa debit cards. Some schools may limit the use of credit cards for some transactions; you will be informed by Rooks Heath directly of any such restrictions.
Yes. ParentPay uses leading technology to process your card transactions securely. All communication with the bank is encrypted and neither ParentPay or the College have access to your card details.
ParentPay holds a very limited amount of information about you and your child solely for the purpose of administering your account; however ParentPay does not use your personal information other than for supporting the College. We do not share or give information to any other organisations. ParentPay operate under strict guidelines set out by the Data Protection Act 1998.
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 ParentPay immediately on 0845 257 5540.
It is possible to complete ParentPay transactions using PCs at local libraries, or internet cafés.