This guide takes you through frequently asked questions and further reading once you've set up a meal in Arbor.
This guide is the second in a series of eight. The other guides in this series are:
- Setting Up Meals - Introduction
- Setting Up Meals - Step 1 - Adding a Meal
- Setting Up Meals - Step 2 - Adding Provisions
- Setting Up Meals - Step 3 - Adding Prices
- Setting Up Meals - Step 4 - Scheduling Meal Sittings
- Setting Up Meals - Step 5 - Managing Attendees
- Setting Up Meals - Optional - Regular Meal Choices
- Setting Up Meals - Frequently Asked Questions and Further Reading
Further reading and what's next
Now that you have set up your meals, you are ready to start using them day-to-day!
Meal registers will auto-fill on meal days after attendance is taken by teachers or through Regular Meal Choices.
Share this guide with teaching staff to help them locate and complete meal registers from their lesson dashboard: Taking the meal register
For Admin staff checking and completing meal registers, please refer them to our How to use meals day-to-day guidance.
You can also report on meals taken. For more on the reporting options, please refer to Reporting on Meals.
Want to level up your meals and allow parents to book meals in advance via the Parent Portal? Have a look at our Rotating Meal Menu guidance: Rotating Meal Menus - Introduction
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to set up meals every year?
No, you can copy over your meal set up next academic year; this is part of your New School Year Setup process.
What is a meal provision?
A meal provision in Arbor is your meal choice. You can have a very basic set up including Hot Lunch, Packed Lunch, Staff Meal, or a more complex set up such as Blue Lunch, Green Lunch.
Can meal provisions have different prices?
Yes! You can set up different prices for your different provisions.
We have different lunchtimes for different students, can we set this up?
Yes, you can create different sittings for different key stages or year groups to accommodate different lunchtimes.
Can we add staff to meal sittings as supervisors or duty?
Yes you can! Please see how to do this here: Can we add staff on Lunch Duty?
How do I set up free meals for Free School Meal and Universal Free School Meal pupils?
You don’t need to set up a separate provision for FSM and UFSM pupils.
You should add a zero price for FSM and UFSM in each provision added. The system will then recognise those pupils who fall into these categories and an invoice will not be raised.
Why can't parents or guardians see Meals balances and top-ups on the Parent Portal or App?
For Meals balances and top-ups to show on the Parent Portal and App, a Customer Account Type for Meals needs to exist and be set to Show in Parent Portal, and this Meals Customer Account Type needs to be switched in your Parent Portal settings. If you have not taken these steps, parents and guardians will not see Meals account balances and top-ups on the Parent Portal or App.
See how to manage Customer Account Types here: Editing a payment Customer Account Type
And see how to manage your Parent Portal Settings here: Parent Portal and Parent App Settings
This guide concludes the series of eight on Setting Up Meals - Step by Step in Arbor.
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