Three of Warrington’s primary schools are taking part in a pilot scheme that will see the end of the stress of searching for dinner money every morning.

• Woolston Community Primary School
• Warrington St Barnabas CE Primary School
• St Wilfrid’s CE Primary School

A biometric system will be introduced that will enable each child to pay for their meal using just their fingertip, eliminating lost dinner monies, and reducing queuing times.

The new scheme will:

• reduce queuing time so your child has longer to enjoy their meal or play
• save you from trying to find dinner money every morning – you can top up easily on line or by phone
• allow children to claim free school meals without being singled out
• inform you of what your child has had to eat – print outs are available
• encourage healthier choices – with points for healthy food
• eliminate the worry of lost dinner money

How does it work?

A child’s finger is place on a scanner at the till, and their account information is displayed to the operator.  Food and drink purchased is entered onto the system and the balance updated.

This method of paying for school meals is used widely across the country. In Warrington Birchwood and Culcheth Community High School’s have been using the new technology for some time, and have noticed great improvements in the whole dining experience.

If successful the three month pilot scheme will be rolled out across Warrington schools.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I top up my child's account?

Topping up your child's account is very easy. If your school is participating in the scheme you should already have received your secure personal identification number PIN.

Using this PIN code you can pay in either of the following three ways

1) top up with cash at the machine in your school

2) log on to the secure online payment method through the link below, (participating schools only)

3) pay by telephone just call 01925 454345.

Why do you need to take my child’s fingerprint?

By taking an image of your child’s fingerprint we can turn this information into a digital signature. This unique image will then be used to replace current payment methods.

Can fingerprints be used by any other agency?

No, the software we use turns your child’s fingerprint in to a mathematical algorithm. The image of the finger print is then discarded. The information that is stored cannot be used to recreate an image of the child’s fingerprint

What happens when my child leaves the school?

When a student leaves school all data can be deleted very easily.

A history of biometrics

Once the domain of the local constabulary, fingerprint technology is now being used at many locations around the country. Banks, supermarkets and now even schools and colleges are adopting this increasingly popular technology. Biometrics are not new, their roots have been traced back to ancient Egyptian times. The use of fingerprints as a security device started with Chinese officials using them to seal documents in the second century BC. Over the last few years the technology has begun to find favor commercially.

Whilst the use of Biometrics has been steadily growing over the last ten years, the past couple of years have seen an explosion in development, interest and vendor involvement.

Biometrics and security

Students, parents and staff can rest assured that the fingerprint images cannot be used by any other source for identification purposes. The system uses an image of the fingerprint to create a mathematical algorithm and then discards the fingerprint; only the numbers remain and these cannot be reinterpreted back into a fingerprint image.