Online payment service introduced in Scottish Borders schools

Scottish Borders Council has introduced a new online payment system that allows parents to make online payments for goods and services from their local school. 

The online system can be used to pay for school meals as well as school trips, photographs, uniforms, sports equipment, residential trips and extracurricular activities.

It has been supplied by ParentPay, a company that has supplied similar services to more than six thousand schools across the UK.

All 71 schools across the Borders now have access to the online system. 

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The initial phase of the project began in October 2014 as a pilot in two Selkirk primary schools and Selkirk High School.

It has now been rolled out on a phased basis across the rest of the region, with the final group of 25 schools in Galashiels, Eyemouth and Berwickshire going online in April this year.

For families who do not use electronic payment cards, PayPoint can be used instead, and anyone who does not want to use the online system can still buy services offline.

Councillor Sandy Aitchison, Executive Member for Education, said: “We live in a world where we are increasingly reliant on the ease and convenience of online shopping and busy parents and carers are no exception.

“This new system makes the most of the new technology that is available and makes paying for chargeable services considerably easier.

“It has been well received in schools across the Borders with take up rates being extremely high and the feedback being received confirming that parents and carers are very appreciative of the benefits that the system brings.

“Gone are the days of having to scramble around late on a Sunday evening trying to find the correct change for their young person’s dinner money for the coming week.”

Councillor Aitchison added: “SBC is the first local authority in Scotland to successfully introduce this facility across all of our schools for such a wide range of goods and services, with every effort having been made to make sure that no family is excluded from participating in this process if they choose to.”