The catering team here at Rayner Stephens High School take great pride in the food they produce, with their food being cooked on the premises and ingredients sourced form local suppliers.

Doors open at 8am in the canteen and provide bagels and a cereal station free to all students. In addition to this, free bagels will also be available to all students at the student entrance on arrival.

Breaktime is at 10:45am in the canteen and hall, again, all students will have access to bagels and the cereal station for free. There will also be a selection of extra items available to purchase. (please note: additional funds on top of their family dining or free school meal would need to be on the students account to be able to purchase)

The school operates on a split lunch system with Years 7,8 & 9 at 1pm and Years 10 & 11 at 1:30pm 

Years 7 & 8 will come down to the canteen at 1pm, where they will sit in groups of 10 from their year groups, all students who have pre-ordered family dining will be provided with a meal of their choice, a dessert and a selection of juice is available on the table.

The family dining consists of 3 hot options, one being vegetarian. A choice of 3 sandwiches, one being vegetarian along with dessert and juice. Menus are on school website

Students are also able to bring their own packed lunch if they prefer. All students who qualify for a free school meal will be provided with the family dining meal unless otherwise preferred. At the start of each term the canteen will be provided with the preferred option for each student so all students who require food from us will be catered for.

Years 10 & 11 start their lunch at 1:30pm.

They are able to come to the serving area and choose what they want to purchase provided they have funds available on their ParentPay account.

There is a selection of hot foods, snacks, desserts and drinks available with an addition of pasta station for pasta pots, drinks and snacks. Menus are on the website.

If your child has any allergies please contact Mrs S Dodd who is happy to assist with your child's dietary needs.

Children are entitled to receive free school meals if their parents or guardians receive any of the benefits below:

  • Universal Credit, provided they have an annual net earned income not exceeding £7,400 (£616.67 per month)
  • Income Support
  • Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
  • Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
  • The guarantee element of Pension Credit
  • Child Tax Credit, provided they are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190, as assessed by HMRC
  • Working Tax Credit run-on - paid 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

If you think your child is eligible for free school meals please click here.

We accept payments online through Parent Pay for items such as lunch/break time monies, school trips and music tuition. Using a secure website called ParentPay parents are be able to pay online using their credit or debit card. We aim to be a cashless school so ParentPay is our preferred method when making payments to the school. 

What are the benefits to parents and pupils?

  • ParentPay is easy-to-use and will offer parents the freedom to make online payments whenever and wherever they like, 24/7
  • The technology used is of the highest internet security available ensuring that your money will reach school safely – offering peace of mind to all parents.
  • Payments can be made by credit/debit card or also through PayPoint
  • Full payment histories and statements are available to parents securely online at anytime
  • Your child will not have to worry about losing money at school
  • Parents can choose to be alerted when their balances are low via email and/or SMS text

What are the benefits to our school?

The more parents that use ParentPay, the greater the benefit is to our school. This can help us reduce workloads for all staff, creating more time to lend to educational support and the smooth running of the school. Using ParentPay also ensures that all financial transactions are safe and secure - helping us to remove costs associated with us having to manage cash securely on the school premises.

How to get started with ParentPay

Once your child starts with Rayner Stephens, parents will receive their account activation details, once these are received the following steps need to be followed:

  • Enter your Activation username and password in the Account Login section of the homepage. NB. These are for one-time use only, you will choose your own username and password for future access during the activation process
  • Provide all the necessary information and choose your new username and password for your account - registering your email address will enable us to send you receipts and reminders
  • Once activation is complete you can go to straight to Items for payment, select which item(s) you want to add to your basket and proceed to complete your payment

If you have any questions, please contact the school Admin Office.

Our cashless catering system was introduced a number of years ago and is well embedded within school. The feedback we received about dinner cards are that they can very easily be lost and damaged. With this in mind, and in order to support students with receiving the most effective service in the dining hall, we have introduced alternative ways of registering the students. Moving to the bio-metric recognition system has proven to be effective and we hope all of our families will continue to support us in this development.

Bio-metrics authentication is the automatic recognition of a person’s characteristics i.e. fingerprint. There are many different bio-metric features that can be used for authentication purposes; at Rayner Stephens High School we use fingerprint recognition. Our 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 re-interpreted back into a fingerprint image.

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 which will give them automatic access to the catering service.

Will 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.

How does it work?

When your child places his/her finger on the scanner, the software matches their finger image with a unique digital signature held on the database. All data is kept confidential and safe and is deleted very easily once your child is no longer at the school.

Do I need to give permission?

All schools that have this system in place are required to obtain written parental consent for students who use biometric data as an automated recognition system. In order to obtain this permission, you will receive a letter when your child joins Rayner Stephens which will contain further details.  Should you have any queries regarding this well established system, please do contact the school office on 0161 338 2374.

Price list and Menus

Stamford Park TrustIQMTeacher Development Award