Why is a parent unable to book meals via School Gateway? (Cypad/Meal Manager)

Ensure the parent has Parental Responsibility - this is a requirement for them to see the Lunch Money tab (and subsequently book meals) in School Gateway. Click here for information to assist you with checking if they have parental responsibility.

Please check that the parent is not trying to book for a day where the booking has already closed (you can check the current cut-off times via Cypad > Settings > Site Info > Whiteboard - “Pre-order lead days” and “Parent pre-order cut-off time” settings).

Please ensure that the child is included in the catering payment request if they need to pay for meals via Payments>required request>edit and that the parent’s email address does not need re-enabling. Click here to access information to assist you with this.

If the child is eligible for FSM/UIFSM and isn’t included in the payment request, and the meal the parent is trying to book exceeds the school’s FSM allowance (so they need to pay the difference), the parent will get a booking error on School Gateway.

• The FSM allowance can be confirmed via Cypad > Settings > Site info > Basic info - if this is incorrect you can simply update the value and the parent should now be able to book (as their full meal cost will be covered by the allowance).

• If the FSM allowance is correct and the parent does genuinely need to pay the extra amount, you will need to add the child into the payment request to allow the parent to book/pay successfully.
  Click here for information to assist you with adding a pupil into a payment request.