Key Issues
1. Provide a tailored solution
Customising a solution to keep the school hygienic and safe for their learners and staff, and to help the school promote a clean and fresh image to their community.
2. Being part of the local community
The children at this school come from a diverse and supportive community. Having a provider who feels part of this community is essential.
3. Reliable, reactive service provider
A supplier that can be flexible to manage the school’s cleaning needs around the dynamic nature of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The OCS Solution
Ensuring Huntly Primary School is cleaned to a very high standard is the priority for the OCS team. They provide the school with a daily cleaning regime which includes all classrooms, all ablutions, and the administration area. Carpets are vacuumed, vinyl floors washed, all touch points wiped down and sanitised, surface areas disinfected and all refuse is collected.
Nola Colebourn is the OCS Operations Manager for Thames Coromandel and North Waikato and her team is responsible for the services provided to Huntly Primary School. “When we first started at Huntly Primary School, we administered a deep intensive clean, including a procedure called fogging which atomises a sanitiser that is dispersed through the air,” says Nola.
“OCS clean our school each afternoon during school terms. They do a bigger clean during the holidays and also organise to strip the lino areas and polish these up. Communication is a huge factor. We have a very good relationship; we are very open and honest. They do their job well and in a timely manner. They are great to work with.”
Justine Brock
Principal, Huntly Primary School
Rapid responses to the COVID-19 pandemic guidance
Going above and beyond for their clients is an attribute the Thames Coromandel and North Waikato OCS team value highly. Nola says there have been many times that the OCS team has gone the extra mile for Huntly Primary School, especially when COVID-19 first hit – her team reacted with speed to the school’s needs.
During one of the lockdowns, when the country moved from Level 4 to Level 3 the OCS team responded rapidly to protect the safety of students returning to school. They ensured they had all the essential cleaning products required and carried out additional sanitisations during the day to provide a safe environment for staff and students.
“Cleanliness is a vital health and safety aspect of our school which we take very seriously. After the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, we employed someone from OCS to work throughout the day wiping the surfaces and high touch points – such as door handles. After the initial two weeks the teachers had had great models to copy for keeping our environments clean,” says Peta-Maree.
As a result of the pandemic, the OCS team revisited their policies and procedures and cleaning products, based on best practice guidelines from the World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Health.
“We immediately made adjustments using recommendations from the Government, changing the service we offer to increase the efficiency against the virus.”
“This has led us to the roll-out of a daily COVID-19 clean in all the schools we are contracted to,” says Nola. “This includes additional services such as building washes, floor care, carpet shampoos, furniture detailing, deep clean of ablutions areas and cleaning of interior and exterior of windows.”
Supporting a caring local community
A key factor in the success of the relationship between OCS and Huntly Primary School has been the care and community values that both organisations abide by.
“The dedication and care the Principal and her staff have for the school and the pupils is evident. Huntly Primary School is made up of children from all walks of life – it’s clear they have a great support network and a stronger connection to the wider community because of the support of their teachers,” says Nola.
Her team is proud of the work they carry out for the school.
“The OCS team has an integral relationship with the school as their own children and grandchildren are students there. So there is a genuine amount of care which can be seen in the attention to detail from the team daily,” says Nola.
Being such an integral part of the school and wider Huntly community ensures the OCS team is committed to delivering outstanding service every day. In turn, the school has high trust that it has a cleaning partner that will go the extra mile, time after time.
Delivering a 10/10 service
Nola and her team ensure the relationship with Huntly Primary School is built on trust and open transparent communication, with open lines of communication for feedback and improvement. Every quarter OCS records the Net Promoter Score (NPS), which is a globally-recognised experience and satisfaction metric that gauges customer loyalty, satisfaction and enthusiasm.
“Using this metric, we have constantly been scored 10 out of 10 since the beginning of our contract with Huntly Primary School,” says Nola.
The relationship between OCS and the school is an open and honest one where Nola has made it known that she is contactable 24/7. She is provided with feedback from not only her team members but also the Principal and staff, and this ensures that anything and everything is received and dealt with quickly and promptly.
The Thames Coromandel & North Waikato OCS team is proud to work at Huntly Primary School – Team leader Colleen Wicker (right) and Petrina Tomiata (left).