Cheadle Hulme School

ParentPay case study

Phase: Independent school

Region: Stockport

Objectives

Offer parents an easier method of paying.

Solution

Introduce online payment system to allow more flexibility for parents.

Outcome

Paying is much easier and more convenient. Collecting payments is much simpler for us, no more handling cheques.

Why Cheadle Hulme went cashless

We asked Cheadle Hulme School, one of ParentPay’s leading Independent users of the system, why they made the move to cashless, and how they’ve made such a success of the conversion.

Sam Jones, Fees Ledger Manager at Cheadle Hulme School outlines why they made the move to become a cashless school:

“The previous process we had of collecting cheques from parents wasn’t very efficient for them, or for the school. We wanted to make their lives easier, and to do this, we needed to make paying more convenient.”

Introducing ParentPay

We had, at the time, moved our fees system to SIMS, and they recommended ParentPay. We had a look at the system by requesting a demonstration, and it suited our requirements. From what I remember, it was a very easy implementation process, we didn’t experience any problems.

The benefits of going cashless

We’ve benefitted from accepting payments online in a number of ways: Manual banking of cheques has reduced significantly, and we accomplished our original objective of making it easier for parents to pay when they like.

We also no longer have to rely on students handing cheques in, this, coupled with easier reporting has made collecting payments much simpler. Everything is processed online now, from fees and trips, to ticket sales and donations.

Parent views

We always make sure a new item has been added to ParentPay, and is available for parents to pay, before we send out any letters or emails requesting payments. This way, parents are kept up to date and can pay straight away.

Parents have been very understanding and welcomed the change, they were a key reason for introducing online payments, and realise how convenient this method is. It’s been a very positive change for them.