School Meals

SCHOOL NOTICE

Alsager school canteen tills use a cashless system using facial recognition or finger print access for payment. If consent is provided your child will be able to use this method when paying for their lunches. Please see our frequently asked questions and flyer for more information.

Facial Recognition – Parental Flyer

Facial Recognition FAQ’s

Our external caterers, Aramark, provide excellent school lunches which are tasty, nutritious and great value for money at about £2.75 for a full meal and Hydration Station Water (unlimited refills)

Aramark use a cashless system which will involve a face recognition or a finger imprint to access each child’s account. More information will be given to you to let you know how you can top up and add money to your child’s account. Laura Bennett, the Catering Manager, is happy to discuss any special dietary needs.

For more information please contact our Catering Manager:
Laura Bennett
Telephone: 01270 877294
E-mail: 5145alsagerschool@aramark.co.uk

There are places to eat for pupils who want to bring their own lunch.

Years 7, 8 and 9 must stay on campus during lunchtimes.

Years 10 and 11 need parental permission to go off campus.

There are water dispensers in school for pupils to use. It would be helpful for your child to bring a re-useable bottle.

Canteen Service Times

Breakfast: 8.00 – 8.40
A selection of hot and cold meals and drinks
Lunch: 12.05 – 1.05
International, traditional and Vegetarian dishes alongside sandwiches, wraps etc.

Cashless System

Payments online via the new ParentPay System.

Access ParentPay here: ParentPay.com

If you haven’t received an activation code or need a reminder, please email finance@alsagerschool.org

Set up an alert so your child always has a lunch balance

(Max. every 2 days, when account balance reaches the level /threshold set by you.)

Log into ParentPay
Go to ‘Communication’ along the top
Scroll down to ‘Balance alerts’
Set a threshold to receive notifications
Tick email alert (Text alerts are chargeable and need a credit on your text message balance account)
Scroll to bottom of page and click the save button.

Do you use the Auto Top up facility available on your account?

Auto top-up assists parents and carers in ensuring their child’s school meal balance is always in credit. To use the Auto Top up facility you need to set up ‘Bank Transfer’ first. Once set up Auto top up will check your child’s balance daily. If your associated balance has fallen below the level set by you, a top up payment will be debited from your bank account to top up the balance. (The payment amount is set by you)

Set up ‘Bank Transfer’

Log into ParentPay
Go to ‘Parent Account’ along the top
Select Bank Transfer on the left hand side of the screen
Add account details
Alternatively it can be set up at The \basket when making a payment
The website will guide you through each step
Further information is available here – Bank Transfer and Auto top-up – ParentPay

Free School Meals (FSM)

Here in the catering department at Alsager School we are always looking for ways to improve the well-being of your child as well as offering value for money and convenience each and every day. Since, we introduced the cashless system for school meals, there has been an increase in the number of students taking a free school meal in years 7 and 8. However, you can apply whatever year your child is in.

Have your circumstances changed?
Do you think your child might be entitled to a Free School Meal?

If so, you can discuss it in confidence by telephoning the Free School Meals Team or apply online via our local Education Authority website. All information regarding eligibility is available on the Cheshire East website below.

Successful claims to Cheshire East can begin the same day if no further information is required and confirmation has been received by school from Cheshire East.

Free School Meals claims cannot be backdated so make sure you apply as soon as you can.

If your child attends a school in Cheshire East then parents/carers need to make an application to Cheshire East whether you live in Cheshire East or Staffordshire:

Telephone: 0300 123 5012
Website: www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/fsm
Email: freeschoolmeals@cheshireeast.gov.uk

What you need to do once your child’s Free School Meal entitlement has been confirmed by Cheshire East?

Email finance@alsagerschool.org to advise that you have made a successful application for FSM. Include your child’s name and form.
This information is strictly confidential and as soon as you have had the entitlement confirmed by Cheshire East, we can update our systems.

Important things to know about the Free School Meal allowance

The free school meal allowance to £2.75 as of September 2022.
Items can only be purchased at lunch service (FSM does not include breakfast or break service). So, if your child is likely to have these please make sure you top up their finger / account to cover any additional spend. ParentPay
Currently the school meal deal is the same price as the FSM allowance. 2 items of the meal deal plus Hydration Station Water (unlimited refills) must be purchased at the same time for the deal to apply and they must be the specific items included in the meal deal.
Your child will still be served in the canteen / at their usual till point as normal.
There is no indication at the till that your child is entitled to FSM, the items will go through the till against their finger and then the FSM allowance is credited back to your child’s account on a daily basis.
If your child spends over the FSM allowance in 1 day, then you will need to top up their ParentPay account to cover the additional spend. ParentPay
FSM is a daily allowance and cannot be rolled into the next day. If it is not spent that day, it will be lost.
However, if your child overspends then your ParentPay account will go overdrawn unless you have topped up your account. Please make sure there are sufficient funds on your account to cover any shortfall.
If you haven’t received an activation code or need a reminder, please email finance@alsagerschool.org with your child(ren)’s name and form(s).

Click for info

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School Meals

Our external caterers, Aramark, provide excellent school lunches which are tasty, nutritious and great value for money at about £2.75 for a full meal and Hydration Station Water (unlimited refills)

Cashless System

Set up an alert so your child always has a lunch balance

Free School Meals (FSM)

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