Reducing admin and going cashless with Schoolcomms

Overview 

Keresforth Primary School set out to offer parents the convenience of online payments and eventually become a fully cashless school. After reviewing several options, the school adopted Schoolcomms, including the School Gateway app, to manage payments, messaging and wraparound clubs—all integrated with SIMS Dinner Money. 

Objectives 

• Give parents the convenience of paying online 

• Become a cashless school 

• Reduce admin workload and paper usage 

Solution 

• Selected Schoolcomms based on a recommendation from the SIMS support team 

• Enabled online payments, text messaging and club bookings 

• Integrated directly with SIMS Dinner Money for seamless reconciliation 

• Chose the Clubs module for its value and ease of use 

“We use the system for all school trips so at the click of a button we can see who has paid and who hasn’t.”
— Keresforth Primary School 

Impact 

• Reduced office workload by an average of 2 hours per week 

• Efficient collection of payments and minimal outstanding debt 

• Significant reduction in paper usage 

• Reception staff relieved of morning payment queues 

• Fortnightly settlement now replaces daily cash balancing 

“Clubs has reduced admin time further and reduced/eliminated any outstanding payments.”
— Keresforth Primary School 

Parent engagement 

• Laptop set up in reception to support parent registration during rollout 

• Most parents registered independently by the end of the first week 

• Parents now pay dinner money in advance, reducing debt to £6–£20 per week 

• System used for all school trips, clubs and communications 

Support experience 

• SIMS team provided onboarding support 

• Staff found the text system easy to use and now rely on it daily 

• Parents benefit from a single, familiar platform for all payments and updates 

Conclusion 

Schoolcomms has helped Keresforth Primary School become a cashless, parent-friendly environment. The system continues to save time, reduce debt and streamline communication—delivering excellent value and operational clarity across the school.