Saving time and improving processes with ParentPay

Overview 

Berkeley Primary School is a one-form entry school in Gloucestershire. As part of a wider rollout across 30+ schools in North Lincolnshire, the school adopted ParentPay to become cashless, make payments more convenient for parents, and improve efficiency across finance and administration. 

We spoke with Sukhi Dhinsa, Administration Assistant, to understand how the solution has supported day-to-day operations and helped engage families. 

Objectives 

• Become a cashless school 

• Make paying more convenient for parents 

• Improve efficiency for school staff 

Solution 

• Introduced ParentPay via Local Authority agreement 

• Enabled online payments for dinner money and breakfast club 

• Supported parental onboarding with clear communication and in-office guidance 

“Our school launched ParentPay in January 2017 and going cashless with dinner payments has been amazing! Dinner money is centrally banked and settled directly to the LA, making the process so much more efficient for everyone.”
— Sukhi Dhinsa, Administration Assistant 

Impact 

• Time savings: Around two days per month saved on finance and admin tasks 

• Improved meal management: Attendance recorded, balances auto-debited, and UIFSM/FSM eligibility recognised 

• Parental convenience: One login, multiple items, single payment 

• End-of-term stress reduced: Debt reminders sent in minutes 

• Breakfast club income now collected online 

• 100% cashless status achieved 

“Personally, a big benefit for me is that the end of term is no longer a stressful time. I can log in and view the small list of accounts in debt, then send reminders via the system to those parents within minutes. It’s been great!”
— Sukhi Dhinsa, Administration Assistant 

Parent engagement 

• Advance notice via letter explaining the move to cashless 

• Guidance on email setup for account activation 

• In-office support for parents needing help 

• Use of ParentPay’s mobile-friendly guidance materials 

“Parents love it too. They can log in whenever they like, select as many items as they like, and make one single payment—it’s easy.”
— Sukhi Dhinsa, Administration Assistant 

Advice to other schools 

Maria from the school team emphasises the importance of clear communication and early onboarding: 

“It’s important parents know what they can expect and what it means if they don’t activate their accounts. They need to book their child’s meals and pay for trips, so they don’t miss out.”

“If you have or work with a pre-school or nursery attached to the school, get them paying online too… by the time they join the school, parents will already be familiar with the system.”

“We tackled this head on and invited parents into the office to take them through the process… now we’re 100% cashless.”

Conclusion 

ParentPay has helped Berkeley Primary School reduce cash handling, streamline meal and club payments, and improve parental convenience. As part of a wider North Lincolnshire rollout, the school continues to benefit from time savings, operational clarity and strong parent engagement.