What is an event?

An event will allow you to record attendance and apply any associated costs for activities such as lunchtime meals and wraparound care as well as specific events such as swim clubs.

Within ParentPay, you can set up multiple events, with varying costs, accommodating any FSM allowances where applicable.

As an example, you could run a breakfast club with two different prices and a child could be recorded as having attended either session on any of the available days, with the relevant charges being applied.

NOTE: Before setting up the event, you must have created a repeatable variable payment item.  You will be unable to complete set up of the event period without this in place.  Please see the guidance How to create a repeatable variable payment item

How to set up an event

In the example below we will show you how to set up a breakfast club event.

1. Go to Attendance, meals & events > Settings
2. This will open the Event types and prices tab by default.
3. Select the relevant time within Choose time, in this case, we will choose Breakfast.
4. To create a new event the Choose type drop-down can be ignored (it is used when editing an existing type).
5. Select the Create new button.
   
   
6. Enter an Event type name, in this case we will enter Breakfast Club.
7. Select Counts as plate to have this event included in the meal number reports.
8. Plate size does not need to be amended
9. FSM Related You can tick this box if you wish to enable the FSM allowance for this event. (The box will be ticked for lunchtime events by default to ensure the allowance is applied where appropriate.) 
10. Tick each box for the type of person that the event is to be made available.  In this case, we will select Pupils, Others and Preadmissions.
11. Tick the Default type box to make this event the first one to appear on the attendance screen.  If this is likely to be the most commonly used event under this event time it will save you time when marking attendance.
    NOTE: You should only have one default type enabled per event time (e.g. Breakfast).
12. Archived is only used to remove an event from the system so is not selected here.
13. In the Display options section
    • Choose a colour to display for the event on the attendance screen. This makes it easier to recognise the different event types available when marking attendance. In this case, we will choose the dark green option.
    • Choose an event icon to be displayed, again to make recognition simpler. We will choose the apple option for this example.
      
      
14. Select Save.

What is an event period?

Once you have created your event you will need to add a cost and create a time period for it to run.  Anyone marked as attending the event will be charged based on this amount, making allowances for FSM where appropriate.

How to set up an event period

To set up a period for the example meal event above:

1. Go to Attendance, meals & events > Settings
2. This will open the Event types and prices tab by default.
3. Select Breakfast in the Choose time drop-down
4. Select Breakfast Club in the Choose type drop-down (from the event we named above)
5. Select the Manage Periods button.
   
   
6. Enter a Start date for when the period is due to start.
7. Enter an End date for when the period is due to end. This must be after the start date and is normally the end of the academic year.
8. Enter the cost of the event in the Price field. In this case, we will set the cost to £5.00
9. Enter the cost of the event to an FSM allowance holder in the FSM price to diner field.           NOTE:  If this event is not FSM applicable, this will be the same as the Price field. If FSM applicable,              this is normally set to £0.00.
10. Enter the net cost of the event in the Price to school field.  This is normally only used to distinguish the cost to the school vs the cost to the parent, carer, or other event consumers.  In this case, the value is identical to the Price, indicating that no markup or VAT is to be considered.
11. Enter the VAT rate in the VAT rate field if applicable.  This is normally only used in adult meals or events such as staff meals. For child related events the value is set to 0.0
12. Select the appropriate payment item in the Payment item drop-down.  This will ensure that the charges are applied to the correct payment item. In this case, we will choose Breakfast Club
    NOTE: Failure to allocate an appropriate payment item will stop the attendance option from functioning correctly.
    
    13. Select Save.