The aim is to shorten queues at lunch time by making payment faster. As many as 200 students pass through the canteen in a 10-minute period during a typical day. It is also more convenient for parents and students not to have to bring cash to school every day. The system also provides enhanced sales information, helping Varndean Catering with menu-planning.

If you do have a question that can’t be answered here then you can email food@varndean.co.uk

The card is scanned at the till and the money spent deducted from the balance.

All students will be given their first card for free when they begin attending Varndean School.

The card can be topped up online by logging on to your parentpay account. You will receive a user name and password and can then credit the account using a debit or credit card. The link to parentpay can be found on the school website at www.varndean.co.uk, click on the menu and you can find the link to the left of the page. It is also on this page above these FAQs.

If you do not have access to the Internet, you can request a Paypoint card to top up so your child can top up their ParentPay card in the canteen manually.

You can check your balance online at ParentPay, at the cash loader or every time that a transaction takes place at the cash register.

It is of course entirely up to you how much money you wish to top up your child’s card with. Details of items available and their cost can be found on the school website at www.varndean.co.uk by going to Menu – Catering - Weekly Menus.

A lunch time meal of a main and dessert is available daily for £2.20. (this does not include a drink) The average daily spend on student’s cards is £1.20 at break time and £3.50 at lunch.

If a card is lost please notify Varndean School immediately and the lost card can be deactivated. If your child loses their card, they will need to go to the canteen help desk or email food@varndean.co.uk who can arrange for a new one to be issued.

Loss of a card will not mean financial loss to the cardholder; the balance of the card is held on a secure database and can be transferred to a new card. If the card is not found, a new one can be issued and will carry all the previous data and balance. If your child loses their card they will need to go and see the canteen staff who can arrange to have a new one issued, there is a charge for a replacement: £3.50 for a new card or £5.00 for key fob & holder.

When a student uses their card and swipes it to make payment a photo comes up on the screen so that the till operator can verify that it is the correct student using the card.

On occasion we understand that you may have forgotten to top up the card, or not realised the balance has got too low. In this case students are allowed a temporary overdraft facility, which must be paid back the next day. If this limit is exceeded, the card cannot be used until it is back in credit. (Please see overspend policy below.)

If a student does not have their card with them when they come into the canteen they will need to queue up so that we can check their account and give them a permission slip to get lunch that day. They will then need to queue up again to get their lunch. This can cause long delays at the till and will take a lot longer for your child to get their food, so please try and ensure that your child always has their card with them.

No, our till system is not set up to allow us to accept cash in the canteen. Therefore, your child can only pay for food via their ParentPay card.

Yes, parents can place a daily or weekly spending limit on students' accounts. In order to activate this control parents will need to inform Varndean School via email to either the canteen directly or your child's school base.

You can view this information by logging on to ParentPay and going to the ‘My Account’ section. Here you can see any money that has been loaded on to the account and the purchases that have been made. Please note the Free School Meals allowance will not show up online.

When you load money on to the card using ParentPay online you will be sent a confirmation email as receipt of this purchase. 

Overspend Policy with effect from 28/09/20

It is important that students keep their catering cards topped up with money at all times. The school will not allow you to spend more than you have on your card, so if you try to buy food or drinks and do not have enough credit on your card, you will be asked to put some items back. However, it is also important that students have something to eat at lunchtime, so if you have absolutely no money on your card and nothing to eat, you may have one of these emergency food options at lunchtime only:

 

Morning break 

No food will be allowed if the account is not in credit.

No Drinks or snacks.

Lunch Time

1 savoury food item up to the value of £1.45

No drinks or snacks.

You can be served lunch at the Catering help desk or the Pod's who will check and charge your account.

You must then ensure that the money to pay for this item is put onto your account via ParentPay by the following morning as well as additional money to pay for the following days' lunches. Any student who does not repay the emergency food cost by the next day, or who attempts to bypass or abuse the system, will be referred to their school base.

The FSM allowance of £2.20 is loaded daily on to the card. The balance of the allowance will only show at the till and will not show online on ParentPay or at the cash loader in the canteen. If the allowance is not fully spent on the day there is no rollover facility for the balance. The FSM allowance cannot be used for breakfast service -  it is activated after 9am.

As there is no rollover facility we do advise where possible to top up the daily allowance with some money to allow the student to purchase additional items if needed.

There is a machine next to the cash loader where students can place their orders. If you have any queries with regards to the above, please email food@varndean.co.uk

Staff duty allowances of £2.20 per day are loaded on a weekly basis on to the card, the balance of the allowance will only show at the till, this will not show online on ParentPay or at the Cash Loader in the canteen. If the allowance is not fully spent by the end of the week it will be lost as there is no rollover facility for the balance.

Once a student has been registered on our SIMS database system then they can be issued with a card, this is the same for all students, including those receiving Free School Meals. New students starting with us in Year 7 will be issued with a card on their first day and told how to use it.