Important School Meal Information – Culinera Pre-Ordering!
Food plays a significant part in a young person’s development and we want to support you with a flexible approach to menu selection, as well as ensuring children receive the meals they like. To support families and schools with this aim, we operate a pre-ordering service with ParentPay.
Pre-ordering meals can be made from your ParentPay account, allowing you and your child(ren) to select meals and manage payments easily. If you require a login for ParentPay, please speak to the school office.
You can order meals up to 7 weeks in advance (woo!). If your child is ill or absent from school you must cancel meals before 8am through ParentPay, or you will still be charged.
Dietary Requirements – Please ensure that you make the school aware of all of your children's allergies. Where your child has an allergy which prevents them from being able to order from the normal menu - they may require a special medical diet menu. If this applies to you, please complete Culinera’s allergy form here: http://www.culinera.co.uk/allergies
New starters to school - You will need an activation letter to activate your ParentPay account. This will be sent to you separately from the school. If you have not previously activated your ParentPay account and do not have the original activation letter, please contact the school office who will be able to issue you with another letter.
How to book meals
Step 1 - Log on to your ParentPay account.
Step 2 - Click on the 'Make Meal Bookings' box under the child you would like to book meals for. Do NOT click the 'Pay for other items' button.
Step 3 - Ensure the drop down box is set to 'Lunchtime'. Click 'Make or View Bookings'
Step 4 - This will take you through to the menu where you can select the meals for your child. To select meals in advance, you can navigate through the available weeks by clicking on the box under the date. You are unable to select meals for days that have already passed and for the current day if it is after 8am.
Step 5 - Once you have made your meal selections you must click 'Confirm Bookings' in the bottom right corner. If your child is UIFSM or FSM eligible you will still need to follow through to payment screen, however no payment will be taken from your account.
Step 6 - You have now confirmed your meal bookings and will see the following screen.
Step 7 - If you would like to view the pre-selections you have made, you will need to go back through Step 1 & 2 to reach the menu screen. You will see an option to 'Download Meal Selection Report', click this option and open the downloaded PDF file. This will show you the selections you have made for your child over the coming weeks. You can print this out and stick it on your fridge to remind yourself/your child what meal choice they are having on each day.
Other Information
- When you select and 'pay' for your meals, the money you have 'paid' will sit as a balance on your Childs account. The balance will only be deducted when the child takes a meal on a given day at lunch time.
- You must make a payment/ checkout within two hours of selecting a meal. This creates the balance and the above process. If you fail to checkout / enter a payment then the meal is cancelled.
- If your child is off school for any reason and you do not cancel the meal, it is still chargeable (because we have cooked it for you!). Meals ordered but not taken are charged at the end of each month. This can create a "debt" which has to be paid next time you order.
