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. Students will be allocated a PIN number he 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 £2.75 will be added to their account automatically, which can be used to purchase food. Any spend over £2.75 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