Cashless catering is a scheme to reduce queuing time in the school dining hall and improve the take-up of free school meals.
All pupils and staff using the cashless catering system will be issued with an Access Moray card which will contain their unique identification number.
Payment
For those schools who have transferred to cashless catering no cash is accepted within the dining hall. Instead payment is made in advance using the cash top up machines in schools. Cardholders can also check the value on their card by using one of these machines.
During meal times the card is used for payment. Swiping the card will reduce queuing times as pupils and staff do not need to look for money and wait to be given the correct change. At present, it is not planned to convert the vending machines to smartcard use, but this situation will be monitored.
If the card is lost or stolen the money will still be credited to the unique identification number. If the loss or damage is reported immediately a temporary card will be issued to use the value on the account. The photograph ID prevents someone else from attempting to use the card. A new personal smartcard will be ordered to replace the original card – the first replacement will be free of charge but subsequent cards will be replaced against a sliding scale of charges, as agreed by the school.