The new academic year is now underway. After summer deep cleans and the return of pupils and staff, attention naturally shifts back to the day-to-day running of the school.
As classrooms, corridors and communal spaces become busier, schools need a cleaning provision that can keep pace with the demands of a full academic year.
For schools and colleges, an effective cleaning service plays an important role in creating a clean, welcoming environment where pupils can learn, staff can work and visitors can use the facilities with confidence.
So now that the new term is in full swing, what should schools be looking at to make sure their cleaning provision continues to meet the demands of the year ahead?
Is your cleaning service keeping up?
The first few weeks of a new academic year can be particularly busy. A cleaning provision that worked well during a quieter period may struggle once the school is operating at full capacity.
Areas such as toilets, dining spaces, corridors and entrances can require greater attention, while classrooms and teaching spaces need to be maintained throughout the week. Cleaning teams are also working around a constantly changing environment, with areas that have been cleaned in the morning potentially being used by hundreds of people throughout the day.
This is why a reliable and well-planned cleaning service is important. While summer deep cleans help prepare a school for the new academic year, day-to-day cleaning needs to respond to the demands of term time.
Regular communication between the school, cleaning team and management can help identify issues early and address them before they become recurring problems. Schools should regularly consider whether their current provision is keeping pace with the site, rather than simply assuming the service is working because the contract is in place.
A well-managed service should have the people, processes and oversight needed to identify potential issues and respond to them effectively.
A cleaning checklist for schools:
With the new term underway, it can be useful to review the key areas across your school or academy. A cleaning checklist for schools could include:
Classrooms and teaching spaces
Classrooms should be regularly cleaned and maintained so they remain welcoming and suitable for learning. Floors, surfaces, desks, bins and other frequently used areas should be included within the cleaning schedule.
Toilets and washrooms
These are among the most heavily used areas within a school and can quickly show signs of high footfall. Cleaning should be carried out consistently, with appropriate attention given to touchpoints, sanitary facilities, floors and the replenishment of essential supplies.
Dining areas
Lunch and break times create significant demand on dining facilities. Cleaning schedules should reflect these busy periods, with appropriate cleaning taking place between uses and at the end of the day.
High-touch surfaces
Door handles, handrails, light switches and other frequently touched surfaces should form part of an appropriate cleaning regime.
Corridors and communal areas
These spaces experience high levels of use throughout the school day. Regular attention helps keep them presentable and ensures they remain suitable for pupils, staff and visitors.
Sports facilities
Sports halls, changing rooms and other specialist areas may require cleaning approaches that reflect their particular use and footfall.
School waste management
Effective waste collection and disposal is another important part of maintaining a clean and well-managed school environment. This should be incorporated into the daily cleaning schedule rather than treated as an afterthought.
Why specialist education cleaning experience matters
Schools are very different environments from many other commercial buildings. Cleaning teams need to understand the specific requirements of working around pupils, staff, visitors and school operations.
A specialist school cleaning company should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the challenges education environments present, from managing busy term-time schedules to working around safeguarding requirements and coordinating services across different areas of a site.
For academies and Multi-Academy Trusts, this can become even more important. Where multiple schools operate under the same organisation, a structured approach to education cleaning can help provide consistent processes, reporting and management across the estate.
At CleanTEC, education is at the heart of our business. We work with schools, academies and Multi-Academy Trusts across the UK, providing cleaning services designed around the individual requirements of each site.
Our approach combines trained cleaning teams with dedicated management, structured processes and ongoing monitoring to help our education clients manage their cleaning requirements throughout the academic year.
If you are considering your options, our guide on how to choose the right cleaning company for schools covers some of the key factors schools should consider when reviewing their cleaning provision.
When should you review your school cleaning contract?
Schools do not necessarily need to wait until their cleaning contract is approaching renewal to consider whether their current services remains suitable.
A review can be useful when the school’s requirements have changed or when there are concerns about service delivery.
For example, your school may have expanded, welcomed more pupils, changed the use of certain facilities or taken on additional buildings. A Multi-Academy Trust may also have grown, creating an opportunity to consider whether its approach to cleaning remains suitable across all sites.
Reviewing your provision does not automatically mean changing suppliers. It can simply provide an opportunity to assess performance, identify areas for improvement and make sure the service continues to align with the school’s needs.
If a change of provider is being considered, starting the process early also allows sufficient time for a thorough procurement and mobilisation process, helping to minimise disruption to the school.
Looking ahead to the rest of the academic year
The start of a new term provides a useful opportunity to step back and consider whether your current cleaning provision is delivering what your school needs.
As the academic year progresses, requirements can change. A good cleaning service should be able to respond to these changes while providing reliable day-to-day support.
For schools and academies, effective cleaning contributes to a clean, welcoming environment for pupils, staff and visitors, while helping schools manage their facilities effectively.
If you are reviewing your current cleaning provision or considering your options for the year ahead, CleanTEC can help.
Contact CleanTEC for School Cleaning
If you are interested in our school cleaning services, call us on 01923 671181 or 0121 289 6568.
Or fill in the online contact form, and we will call you at a time most convenient for you.
