Communication and Payments

To view what your child is buying from the canteen you will need to visit the web version of My Child at School at https://www.mychildatschool.com as the app version is for account balance and topping up only.

BIOMETRICS

Our dinner payment system is a biometric cashless catering system which is a very effective way for taking and handling monies for school food. We are required under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 to notify each parent of a child and obtain written consent of a least one parent before being able to use the biometric information. This consent is required for all pupils under the age of 18 years.

Biometric Information

Each individual’s finger and thumbprints are unique. The Biometric cashless system stores only a section of the print as a unique number and not as an image.

Each child has a unique number stored on a central server. This is done by scanning the finger or thumb with a non-evasive electronic scanner, which passes light over the finger or thumb. The same scanner is installed in the machines where they deposit coins / notes and at the tills where they get their food. The print is stored numerically, as a set of between 20 and 50 reference points, unique to the individuals print. The system does not store the image of the finger scanned and the reference points cannot be used to reconstruct a print.

The numbers are held in a secure SQL database on the server. Access to this database is given only by the school and then only to those who are required to administer the system.

• The school cannot use the information for any other purpose other than for those for which it was originally obtained and made known to parents.
• The school must ensure that the information is stored securely.
• We must tell you what we intend to do with the information.
• Unless the law allows it we cannot disclose personal information to another body.

Please note any consent or withdrawal of consent must be in writing.

Even if you have consented, your child can object or refuse at any time to their biometric information being taken or used. His/her objection does not need to be in writing. We would appreciate it if you could discuss this with your child in the event of this happening.

If you do not wish your child’s biometric information to be processed, or your child objects to such processing, the law states that we must provide reasonable alternative arrangements for them.

If you give consent to the processing of your child’s biometric information, please sign, date and return the enclosed consent form to school. Biometrics letter