Order school meals online to combat school theft

Using the ForBrains Online School Meal Ordering System parents can now use the Internet to see what meals are on offer at their childs school in advance. They can choose what their child is having each day of the week from the menu and pay online using their debit or credit card.

The benefits of the system are felt by school staff, caterers, parents and children.

School Staff

School staff traditionally spend a great deal of time handling payments for school meals, and manually managing refunds for children off sick. Free school meals offered by the local education authority to parents on low income also had to be cross-referenced manually, and records updated regularly.

Caterers

As a caterer you typically had to guess the quantities of food to cook each day which lead to a fair amount of waste. Knowing the spectrum of dietary requirements of children had to be tallied manually, and such information had to be compiled by the school staff talking to parents.

Parents

In the past you had to write a cheque or find cash each week to pay the school; each day ask your child what they had for lunch, and had no idea if they spend their lunch money on sweets or had it stolen by another pupil. As a parent you had no idea of the range or foods available by the school caterer in advance, so didn't have the option of sending your child with a packed lunch if there was no option that met their particular dietary requirements.

Children

As a child at a primary school carrying your envelope of school dinner money for the week, that your parents have barely managed to scoop together, it's a stressfull experience, especially if their are bullies who want your money. If you loose your dinner money to a bully you have to go hungry all week and feel stressful about telling your struggling parents.

Advantages of Ordering School Meals Online

• Reduced admin
• Cash-less school possible

• Know in advance what food to order
• See the dietary requirements of your customers
• Show the range of meals in advance to parents to increase sales and confidence
• Safeguard payment for meals
• Increased cash-flow

• A system to manage your limited place
• Parents can pay in installments
• Advertise your club direct to parents

• No chance of your childs dinner money being stolen
• See the school menu weeks in advance
• Apply for free school meals online
• Enter dietary requirements online
• Choose meals for your children online what meet their needs
• Pay online by credit or debit card
• See what you child chose from the menu
• See if your child collected their meal
• Book and pay for Clubs
• Book and pay for Trips
• Book and pay for school merchandise like uniform
• Book and pay for "Creche" (childcare for outside of school hours)
• Communicate with teachers
• See the school diary
• Student exam grades and where they are in terms of their peers
• View attendance records

• Reduced stress of having to carry money
• No pressure of deciding to go without lunch if parents are struggling

LEA's are under increased government pressure to make their schools cash-less to combat school bullying. Caterers across the UK are starting to feel the great benefits of online technologies, and many parents and children already using our system can't imagine going back to the old times.