What Are The Most Important Places To Keep Clean In A School?
When running a successful, busy school, a clean learning environment is a must.
Good hygiene routines ensure healthy, happy students and create a positive school environment.
Considering the sheer number of pupils and teachers sharing the same classrooms, equipment, and stationery daily, it’s no surprise that schools can act as the ideal breeding ground for bugs and viruses.
Although keeping your entire school clean should be a top priority, certain areas need extra care and attention.
This blog will run you through these areas and the best school cleaning practices.
Let’s dive in!
The most important areas to clean in a school
Some surfaces in schools are especially prone to gathering harmful bacteria. These are the areas that should take priority in your school cleaning routine.
These areas include:
Toilets
The toilets in your school receive high traffic all day long, which means germs can quickly gather and spread.
This is why they must be cleaned daily by staff or school cleaning services to prevent the build-up of germs and bacteria.
When you deep clean the sinks, toilets, and floors in your school’s bathroom, it’ll keep your students healthy and the area fresh and welcoming.
Remember to disinfect the main toilet doors in your school cleaning routine. These are often overlooked, yet every child touches them on their way in and out.
Lunch boxes or trays
School lunchboxes are notorious for gathering bacteria, so you must encourage students to clean theirs daily.
If you provide at-school hot lunches, then it’s equally important you take steps to ensure all cafeteria trays are disinfected at the end of each school day.
Both boxes and trays are in constant contact with food and hands, making it too easy for germs and pathogens to breed fast.
Desks
Classroom desks are one of the most likely areas in your school to become infected with germs as they’re used for hours daily.
For the safety of your students, it’s essential to ensure that the desks throughout your school are wiped down with disinfectant after your pupils have left.
This is the key to reducing the spread of harmful germs that can lead to increased sick days among staff and students.
Computers and stationery
Commonly touched and shared items in the classroom, like computer keyboards and stationery, also need frequent cleaning and disinfecting.
Germs and diseases can spread rapidly when several pupils touch the same items. By regularly cleaning these items yourself or with the help of school cleaning services, you can stop the spread of harmful bacteria in its tracks.
Cleaning your computer keyboards is also essential for keeping them working properly. Dust, food, and other particles can get stuck underneath the keys, causing them to stick and break.
Drinking fountains
Another area you should pay special attention to in your school cleaning routine is your facility’s drinking fountains.
Unfortunately, kids tend to put their mouths onto the tap, meaning bacteria from their saliva stay on the nozzle long after drinking.
Even if children keep their mouths a few inches away from the nozzle, water can still splash out of their mouths and back onto the fountain’s surface.
Door handles
Students and teachers touch doors and door handles hundreds of times each day.
They have been known to cause the spread of infections such as Staph and E.coli, as well as other fungal and viral infections.
Door handles should be sanitised daily, as some bacteria that live on them can survive for more than 24 hours.
Sanitising doors is especially important in bathroom and kitchen areas where germs are more likely to be present.
What are the most important aspects of deep cleaning a school?
Keeping your school clean takes hard work and commitment. To make the process more straightforward, knowing the critical aspects is helpful.
The most critical aspects of school cleaning include the following:
Dusting all surfaces
It’s incredibly easy for allergens like dust, dust mites, mould, and pollen to gather in primary schools and secondary schools.
From walls and door frames to keyboards and bookshelves – dust can gather in every nook and cranny of your school.
If you fail to have your classrooms and other areas regularly swept, vacuumed, and wiped down, it may trigger runny noses and itchy skin among teachers and pupils.
Top 3 dusting tips:
- Always start at the top and work your way down
- Use a microfiber cloth for the best results
- Dust before you vacuum
Knowing the difference between cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitising
Many people don’t realise it, but cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitising are different elements of the school cleaning process.
To keep your school in a protein condition and safe from viruses, germs, and illnesses, it’s essential to know the differences between the three.
- Cleaning – cleaning is the first step of the school cleaning process that sees dirt physically removed from objects and surfaces, generally using a soap or detergent product with water.
- Disinfecting – disinfecting uses chemical cleaners to kill germs on surfaces and objects. Disinfecting doesn’t necessarily clean dirty surfaces or remove germs, but it can lower the risk of spreading infection.
- Sanitising – sanitising works to lower the number of germs on an object or surface to public health standards. This is the most important step in the school cleaning process to keep on top of germs and bacteria.
Using the right products and equipment
The right cleaning products and equipment are vital to keeping educational facilities hygienic and safe.
According to the EPA, students can be sensitive to harsh, chemical-filled cleaning products, affecting their ability to concentrate and learn.
This is why most professional school cleaning services will use low-toxicity cleaning chemicals as part of your school cleaning routine.
You may need to invest in a floor degreaser or scrubber to keep your school’s hard floor surfaces clean.
Many professional cleaning services also use an electrostatic sprayer as a part of their school cleaning routine. An electrostatic sprayer can quickly and efficiently disinfect large areas, like a school gym or lockers.
Knowing when to get help from a professional school cleaner
Keeping your school’s surfaces, contents, and air clean and disinfected is challenging.
We know a clean school is a big part of what makes a good and effective school for teaching and learning. Yet taking on the job yourself without the help of school cleaning services can be counter-productive.
Often, it results in using class time, exposing students to chemicals, and engaging students and teachers in the process.
But when you hire professional school cleaning services for deep or general cleaning, they’ll take care of the hard work by supplying all the necessary products, equipment, and expertise.
Here at Cleaning Contractors, we’ve provided professional and reliable commercial cleaning services to educational establishments in Ireland for over 30 years.
Whether you require once-off deep cleaning services or regular cleaning from our experienced cleaners – Cleaning Contractors is the solution you need.
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