Phase: Secondary
Local Authority: Hampshire
Why King’s School sought to use online payments
There were several reasons why King’s School sought to use online payments, but one stood out. The school needed to reduce the amount of cash coming in. With the large amount of students they had, it was too time-consuming to process cash payments. They were looking for another, more efficient way to manage this process, whilst also making it easier for parents to make payments to the school.
King’s School searches for a cost-effective and compatible payments provider
The school was searching for a system that would be simple to maintain and compatible with their banking needs. Another significant factor that the school considered while assessing numerous options online was the pricing of the solution. Finally, a decision to invite ParentPay to come into the school and demonstrate the system was reached. Helen further explains why Kings’ School selected ParentPay as their online payment provider:
Saving staff time by saying goodbye to processing and reconciling payments
Since going cashless, the school realised that a big plus for them was that parents found it easier to pay online as they found the system to be more convenient. As a result, the school had to handle less cash and the staff saved time by no longer having to process and reconcile thousands of payments. The Senior Finance Officer, Helen, continues to list the other benefits that the school realised after the implementation of ParentPay’s system:
Getting parents engaged
King’s School managed to get parents on board by initially sending out letters to all new staff and parents of pupils to make them aware of the process and how they are expected to pay. They also added the ParentPay logo to their school website to make access as easy as possible, and to raise further awareness.
How can other schools get the best out of ParentPay
Helen outlines how having a plan in advance helped them get the best out of ParentPay: “I would advise schools to ensure they market online payments properly, give it a high profile. Ensure parents are aware of the benefits to them of using the system, not just the school. Be sure to send out their activation letter as soon as possible to encourage early uptake, and that all correspondence relating to paying money to the school, points to paying online via ParentPay or with cash via PayPoint at a local store.”
A message to other schools
Helen comments on her overall experience: “The transition from our previous manual process to using ParentPay was really simple. The software is easy to use and the parents like using ParentPay on the whole. We do get some queries from parents, but they are minimal. The support we receive from ParentPay has been very good, and I have always found them to be really helpful whenever I have needed to contact them.”
Download the PDF version of King’s School journey with ParentPay.
