Hamstead Hall Academy
We are pleased to announce that the academy has introduced a more convenient way to pay for school meals, educational visits, afterschool clubs and much more using a secure service called ParentPay.
ParentPay has been live at the academy since November 2014.
From this date, the academy has been working towards no longer accepting cash and cheque payments, making the academy a cash-free environment. Parents/carers who need to continue making payments by cash may do so using the PayPoint network at your local convenience store.
Making secure payments online using your credit or debit card
ParentPay offers you the freedom to make payments whenever and wherever you like, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - safe in the knowledge that the technology used is of the highest internet security available.
You will have a secure online account, activated using a unique username and password; you will be prompted to change these and to keep them safe and secure. If you have more than one child at our academy or children at other ParentPay schools, you can create a single account login for all of your children.
Making a payment is straightforward and ParentPay holds a payment history for you to view at a later date; no card details are stored in any part of the system. Once you’ve activated your account you can make online payments straight away.
If you make payments online via ParentPay, you also have the option of paying for items using the cash PayPoint facility.
Using PayPoint PayPoint payments are for those parents/carers who wish to continue to pay for items via cash. PayPoint payments are also recorded by ParentPay and can be seen by logging into your ParentPay account and viewing your payment history online. A list of PayPoint outlets is available for download below.
Please notify the Finance Office if you wish to use the PayPoint facility to top up your child’s lunch account. A paypoint card (solely for top up of your child’s lunch account) will be ordered for you. The first card is free of charge; however, any lost or damaged cards will be charged at £2 each.
Educational Visit Payments
You will be able to make online payments for educational visits as soon as you see the payment item available on your child’s ParentPay account (if activated).
If you prefer to pay for these items by cash, your child will be issued with a letter containing a unique barcode linked to that particular visit which you will have scanned at your local PayPoint store where you will hand over the payment.
The academy will be notified of all payments made online or via PayPoint.
We hope you will support us in achieving our goal to become a cashless academy and your support in using ParentPay will help the academy enormously, thank you.
We shall contact you further once we have received your unique ParentPay account activation details.
For further information on ParentPay please see the FAQ below or visit www.parentpay.com. Alternatively, please email Mrs Kumar, Office Manager, on kumarh@hamsteadhall.com.
When can I log in to my account?
Once you have received your activation letter from the academy with your activation login details you’ll be able to activate your account and start making payments. This letter will be sent to you soon by your child’s academy.
Which cards can I use?
ParentPay accepts MasterCard and Visa credit cards, and Maestro, Switch, Delta, Electron, Solo and Visa debit cards.
Some schools may limit the use of credit cards for some transactions; you will be informed by the academy directly of any such restrictions.
Is it safe to make payments on the internet?
Yes. ParentPay uses leading technology to process your card transactions securely.
All communication with the bank is encrypted and neither ParentPay nor the academy have access to your card details.
How can I check that it’s secure?
Standard website addresses begin with http; the address for a secure site will always begin with https.
You will also see a padlock at the bottom/top right of the screen on our login page and after you have logged into your account; never enter your card details or personal data on any web page whose address does not start https.
What about our personal information?
ParentPay holds a very limited amount of information about you and your child solely for the purpose of administering your account; however ParentPay does not use your personal information other than for supporting the academy.
We do not share or give information to any other organisations. We operate under strict guidelines set out by the Data Protection Act 1998.
ParentPay will NEVER contact you by phone, email or mail and ask you to divulge confidential information like passwords or card numbers. If you are ever contacted by someone claiming to be from ParentPay, please contact us immediately on 0845257 5540
I don’t have a home PC so how can I use ParentPay?
Why not visit your local library, internet café or see if you can get access to a computer at work.
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