Cleaner or skivvy

[greenjack]

Sitting having tea with one of the cleaners we got to discussing work requirements. When she started I told her she was not a skivvy and on no account was she to wash up staff cutlery and crockery. Neither was she to pick up items from the floor. If it is too big to go in the hoover it stays on the floor is my motto! She was saying that in her previous school cleaning post the head demanded that any dirty utensils were washed and put away by the cleaners, and anything on the floor was the cleaners job to pick up.
When I started in this job there was no discussion with management as to how much a cleaner was expected to do but after a few early complaints I pointed out that the cleaners were not skivvies but cleaners. Since then no one has complained but I’d be interested to know how much other cleaners are expected to do

[Eddy]

I tell my staff here that the cleaners are here to CLEAN, not tidy up and then clean.
I would not dream of asking them to do the washing up ( though i know she does occasionally).

If a room is left in a state it does not get cleaned.

[wonderwoman]

this is on going in our school not only do the staff think that everything to do with cleaning is the cleaners job, but they also don't thank the cleaners if they do help out, apparently thats our job.

And the amount of times i have to tell staff that their cups, plates etc are for them to clean or at least put in the dish washer is amazing. i have even said we are not servants and we only have a certain amount of time to do the normal clean.
But i still get staff coming up to me saying oh iv put the dishwasher on for you and i'v done the washing up and tidying of the staff kitchen for you, like they are doing us a favour.
Even now we have had staff in and there are cup's and glasses in the staff room, but they are not anyone's. so we must have some one else living in this place.
And as for the class rooms one class must have at least 6 cups and 4 glasses and the cleaner removed all cups etc at the beginning of the hol's in the summer clean, he also hoovered 3x and now it doesn't t t even look like a clean has happened.

[Eddy]

this is on going in our school not only do the staff think that everything to do with cleaning is the cleaners job, but they also don't thank the cleaners if they do help out, apparently thats our job.

And the amount of times i have to tell staff that their cups, plates etc are for them to clean or at least put in the dish washer is amazing. i have even said we are not servants and we only have a certain amount of time to do the normal clean.
But i still get staff coming up to me saying oh iv put the dishwasher on for you and i'v done the washing up and tidying of the staff kitchen for you, like they are doing us a favour.
Even now we have had staff in and there are cup's and glasses in the staff room, but they are not anyone's. so we must have some one else living in this place.
And as for the class rooms one class must have at least 6 cups and 4 glasses and the cleaner removed all cups etc at the beginning of the hol's in the summer clean, he also hoovered 3x and now it doesn't t t even look like a clean has happened.

The dishwasher is another bone of contention i have dealt with.

I do not use the dishwasher at all, so i do not check it. If is is full and not been switched on, then not my problem.
I bin dirty cups that have been left laying around, especially if they are in corridors or "common use" rooms.

Over the holidays, If a teacher comes in and strips a board leaving the mess after the room has been cleaned, the mess will still be there when they return. Very rarely happens here as i set the standard early doors, and the HT backed me up (which is important!)

[Taz]

I tell my staff here that the cleaners are here to CLEAN, not tidy up and then clean.
I would not dream of asking them to do the washing up ( though i know she does occasionally).

If a room is left in a state it does not get cleaned.

Absolutely spot on 100%.

[hawkwind]

When I first started many moons ago there was paper, pens and pencils strewn around the floors of the classrooms.
I pointed out to the head that if I have to spend 5 minutes in each of the 8 classrooms picking everything up, binning the rubbish and putting everything back where they should be, then that's 40 minutes of my time wasted everyday.
Next day there was nothing to pick up.

Staff are really good here though and listen and take action to any concerns I may have

[Taz]

Sorry meant to add to my original post.

In 12 years at my school, only once have I told the cleaners to leave a particular room - said room was being covered by a supply (or LSA I can't remember which) in the afternoon, and when I walked in it looked like a bomb had gone off. Pens, paper, lego, rubbish, rulers, you name it it was probably on the floor. The cleaner said that she had already spent 20 minutes picking stuff up from the floor. I told her to empty/change the bin bags, and to leave the room as she was paid to clean, not to tidy.

Went to see the head who was just about to leave, got her to look at the room to which she said "nobody is to touch that room, the children will clean it tomorrow".

Following morning the kids walked in and said that the room hadn't been cleaned. The teacher and the head absolutely let rip whilst I stood at the back of the room. They were made to pick up everything from the floor and lost their breaktime. Needless to say, I had nothing like that ever again.

Cleaners are paid to clean, not tidy. Staff rooms vary from school to school, but in mine it's surfaces, and sinks that get wiped over. If the floor is in that much of a state, it's left.

[Sparky]

Agree, cleaners are there for exactly that. Tidying is not part of their job role. Should a classroom be excessively messy with books, pens, pencils etc all over the floor that part of the task is left.
They, and the site team also do not touch any washing up or dishwashers in staff area. No clean cups, no coffee I guess. They soon get the point

[Dunroamin]

Agree, cleaners are there for exactly that. Tidying is not part of their job role. Should a classroom be excessively messy with books, pens, pencils etc all over the floor that part of the task is left.
They, and the site team also do not touch any washing up or dishwashers in staff area. No clean cups, no coffee I guess. They soon get the point

Don’t forget the science experiment, I mean staffroom fridge contents over a holiday period is also not the cleaners/my responsibility

[thecaretaker]

Have you ever had to look inside a staffroom fridge? There are things growing in there that are unknown to science lol