The summer holiday cleaning checklist for schools

While the kids, teenagers, teachers, and support staff are at home for a well-deserved summer break, the school is left empty, offering the perfect opportunity for a proper deep clean. Ensuring all school spaces are tidy, safe, and thoroughly cleaned is essential before everyone returns for the school year.

In this article, we'll share our summer holiday school cleaning checklist so you can arrange getting your school ready for the first day back. It's also how our team of experienced cleaners approach deep cleans, leaving spaces sparkling.

Before we get into it, we recommend pairing a good deep cleaning service during each school holiday with regular cleaning services to keep on top of general day-to-day mess.

Our deep cleaning checklist for school summer holidays

Here is our in-depth school cleaning checklist for the summer holidays, and all other school holidays, to ensure your spaces shine for students and staff.

Classrooms

The main hubs of learning, it is incredibly important that these rooms are spotless for the return of teachers and students. There are a lot of high-touch surfaces in these rooms, and all need to be properly cleaned to ensure a safe space for education.

• Clean and disinfect:
  • Desks, chairs, shelves, cupboards, drawers, boards, doors, door handles, door frames, and window frames. Tip: wipe down books that have plastic covers - sticky fingers leave germs behind!
• Clean all light fixtures, fittings, and switches.
• Wash the insides of windows.
• Vacuum and mop floors.
• Vacuum and shampoo carpets and rugs.
• Wash any stuffed animals or toys made of fabric.

Staff rooms and offices

Keeping staff rooms and offices clean is just as essential as the classrooms, because if staff get unwell from unclean surfaces, who will teach, feed, and ensure the safety of the children? It's also important that staff rooms feel comfortable for busy team members, which can be improved by a clean and hygienic space for them to relax in.

• Clean and disinfect:
  • Desks, chairs, shelves, cupboards, drawers, fridges, countertops, appliances, tables, table legs, doors, door handles, door frames, and window frames.
• Clean the inside of fridges, microwaves, and other food storage and prep appliances.
• Clean all light fixtures, fittings, and switches.
• Wash the insides of windows.
• Vacuum and mop floors.
• Vacuum and shampoo carpets and rugs.

Hallways

Though hallways and other connecting rooms are far less used than classrooms, they still see a very high amount of traffic, resulting in many hands touching surfaces over and over.

• Clean and disinfect:
  • Stair bannisters, lockers, shelves, coat hooks, glass cabinets, doors, door handles, door frames, and window frames.
• Clean all light fixtures, fittings, and switches.
• Wash the insides of windows.
• Vacuum and mop floors.
• Vacuum and shampoo carpets and rugs.

Libraries

Libraries require similar cleaning as classrooms to keep learning spaces safe and clean, but it's important to ensure the items people are touching are clean too.

• Clean and disinfect:
  • Desks, chairs, shelves, cupboards, drawers, boards, doors, door handles, door frames, and window frames.
• Wipe down and disinfect book covers, DVD covers, Blu-ray covers, video game covers, and any other items encased in suitable material that can be wiped clean.
• Clean all light fixtures, fittings, and switches.
• Wash the insides of windows.
• Vacuum and mop floors.
• Vacuum and shampoo carpets and rugs.

Toilets and changing rooms

Bathroom areas should be cleaned daily to ensure the safety of staff and students, so a deep clean in the summer holidays should primarily target out-of-reach areas not caught in daily cleaning, as well as the standard restroom cleaning tasks. Changing rooms and shower stalls also need to be scrubbed clean for everyone's comfort.

• Clean and disinfect:
  • Toilets, urinals, sinks, showers, shower doors, tiles, cubicle walls, cubicle doors, counters, and mirrors.
• Ensure sanitary disposal bins are emptied and cleaned by your supplier.
• Clean all light fixtures, fittings, and switches.
• Wash the insides of windows.
• Vacuum and mop floors.

First aid rooms

Another space where cleanliness is absolutely essential is any room used for administering first aid. Whether it's a corner of an admin zone or a larger dedicated nurse's area, it must be clean.

• Clean and disinfect:
  • Tables, chairs, reclined beds, cupboards, shelves, drawers, cabinets, storage units, first aid boxes, doors, door handles, door frames, window frames, sinks, and eye baths.
• Clean all light fixtures, fittings, and switches.
• Wash the insides of windows.
• Wash blankets, towels, pillowcases, and other fabrics.
• Vacuum and mop floors.
• Vacuum and shampoo carpets and rugs.

Sports halls

Though this learning environment looks different to classrooms, it's just as important to keep clean.

• Clean and disinfect:
  • Storage units, cupboards, drawers, boards, doors, door handles, door frames, window frames, exercise equipment, sports equipment, and climbing equipment.
• Clean all light fixtures, fittings, and switches.
• Wash the insides of windows.
• Vacuum and mop floors.

Kitchens and dining areas

School kitchens and dining rooms or halls are just as busy as any restaurant! Ensuring they're clean and hygienic is essential to avoid the spread of germs, as these zones are where hands are most likely to touch surfaces and then mouths.

• Clean and disinfect:
  • Tables, table legs, chairs, storage units, countertops, tray racks, bins, prep areas, fridges, ovens, stovetops, microwaves, appliances, sinks, dishwashers, doors, door handles, door frames, and window frames.
• Clean the inside of fridges, microwaves, and other food storage and prep appliances.
• Clean all light fixtures, fittings, and switches.
• Wash the insides of windows.
• Vacuum and mop floors.

External areas

Keeping the outside of your school buildings clean is important for reputation and to reduce the need for frequent maintenance or repairs. This service will be difficult to achieve alone, and should be left to professional cleaning teams (like ours at Vivo Clean!).

• Clean all windows and doors.
• Clean signage.
• Empty and clean gutters and drainpipes.
• Jet wash pavements, paths, and playgrounds.
• Clean roofs and remove moss.

The Vivo Clean deep cleaning service for schools

Do you want to entrust this long list of cleaning tasks to experienced professionals? Let us help. Our incredible cleaners are highly trained and equipped with only the best equipment and cleaning supplies to tackle any mess your school may throw at them. At every deep cleaning job, one of our expert supervisors will be on site, there to keep an eye on progress and ensure the cleaners have what they need to succeed.

We are dedicated to maintaining the highest hygiene standards during our cleaning services, and schools are no different. To ensure the spread of illness is reduced as much as possible, we recommend organising contract commercial cleaning for your school to follow a proper deep clean. This is the best way to prevent sickness outbreaks such as norovirus.

If you haven't organised a summer holiday school deep clean this time around, then don't panic; half-term, Christmas, and Easter breaks are also the perfect opportunities to get your school sorted. Reach out to the Vivo Clean team now.

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