Bedford Academy operates a cashless catering system within the school. This system incorporates the latest technology and eliminates the need for students to carry cash throughout the day. The system is biometric so there is no need for students to carry a card as the system will recognise the thumb of your child at the tills.

Any amount of money can be paid into a student’s account via Parentpay and any money spent on food and drink will be deducted from their account on a daily basis. A daily ‘spend limit’ of £10 is programmed into the system. This can be increased or decreased for an individual student by their parent/carer making a written request to the Academy Finance Office.

If a student is entitled to free school meals, a daily credit of £2.60 will be added to their account automatically, which can be used to purchase food. Any spend over £2.60 and/or the purchase of drinks must be paid for by the student by one of the methods below. Please note that any underspend of the free school meal allowance will not be carried forward.

We have two payment options available to you:

• Online via ParentPay (our preferred method). ParentPay offers you the freedom to make payments wherever and whenever you like, 24-7, safe in the knowledge that the technology used offers the highest internet security available. You have a secure online account, with a unique user ID and password - you can change these to something you will easily remember and merge accounts of 2 or more children. Making a payment by debit/credit card is easy and simple. ParentPay holds an electronic record of your payments and any transactions within the school to view at a later date. Most School trips can also be paid for using this method and thus avoids the need for your child to bring cash into school at all. For further details visit www.parentpay.com
• Through local stores where you see the PayPoint logo. Those parents choosing to pay by this method should request a PayPoint card by contacting the Academy Finance Office. This should then be taken to a local PayPoint store* along with cash where the bar code on the card will be scanned. PayPoint payments are recorded by ParentPay in the same way as online payments and may be seen in your payment archive. Please be aware it may take several days for a PayPoint payment to be transferred. Initial cards will be issued free of charge, replacement cards will be subject to a charge.

Biometrics Opt-In Policy

In accordance with current legislation we operate an ‘opt in’ policy for the biometrics. No actual scans of fingerprints are stored on the system; instead the fingerprint scan is stored as a series of numbers which cannot be converted back into a fingerprint. Also, under the GDPR the school cannot allow access by anyone to this data for any other means than for the purpose the data was collected. If you choose not to have your child registered on the biometrics system a 4 digit PIN Code will be allocated. Please note that PIN codes do not have the same level of security and it will be your child’s responsibility to remember the code and to keep it secure at all times.

To opt into the biometrics system please complete the form below and return it to the Academy Finance Office as soon as possible. Any student that has not returned the form will have a PIN code allocated to them for the start of the new term and they will not be able to use the biometric scanners until a signed form is returned.

If you have any queries on the above please contact the Academy Finance Office.