Little Heath School (the Client) is a voluntary-aided co-educational comprehensive secondary school. The school is located in the Little Heath area of the Reading suburb of Tilehurst, in Berkshire.

The school is managed by West Berkshire Local Authority, but serves communities in both West Berkshire and Reading. A mixed 11-18 school, it has approximately 1 650 students on roll, with over 300 of these in the Sixth Form.

The Facilities

Founded in 1963, the school is situated on a large site in Little Heath Road, Tilehurst. The school has multiple buildings, of a range of ages and is working on a phased redevelopment of the school site. Most recently the school has opened a new dedicated sixth form study centre in October 2015. The school currently has a 15 000 000 GBP building project underway to replace its main school building.

The tender project is seeking to appoint a supplier whose initiative and innovation will be welcomed for the provision of service within the school facilities. The Client will wish the successful supplier to review the current provision of cleaning services offered and make recommendations accordingly.

The contract being tendered is for 3 years in duration from 1.4.2020 to 31.3.2023, with the option for the Client to extend for up to a maximum of 2 further years. The contract will operate as a fixed price contract, with the successful supplier offering the Client a guaranteed cost per annum for the provision of cleaning services.

The Client requires the services of a competent and professional outsourced cleaning provider who can provide effective cleaning solutions to the school. This includes daily cleaning and out of term deep cleaning for spaces including, but not limited to, teaching, office, circulation, sports and rest room spaces. The supplier shall establish effective management and communication systems at all levels regarding the cleaning service within the school. In addition, the supplier will also be responsible for all legal, health and safety and safety requirements in delivering the services.

The academic year is based on a calendar of 39 weeks/195 days. Additional cleaning will be required in the holiday periods, as some staff do work year round and various activities take place on the school site during holiday periods, such as exam revision sessions. This additional cleaning is specific to certain areas and not for the whole site.

The contract offered covers the provision of all cleaning services within the school, which currently includes: washrooms, changing rooms (x 4), classrooms, circulation areas, dining hall, main hall, sports hall, gym, drama studio, staff workrooms, medical room, food technology rooms (x 2) and technology workshop.

At the start of the proposed cleaning contract the total floor space for the school has been calculated at 13 370 m2, divided across 14 separate buildings on the school site, including 1 temporary building that is in situ for the duration of the current building project. The Client currently expects the school to move into its new building at the end of 2020, at which time the existing main building will be demolished and the temporary building removed from site. Once the Client is using the new building, the total floor space for the school will reduce to approximately 13 200 m2.

The core term time cleaning shift will be required Mon-Fri 16.00-21.00. In addition to the cleaning duties, it will be a requirement of the Cleaning supervisor to lock and secure any building still being cleaned after 18.00 on any weekday evening, as well as locking the school gate if the cleaning team are the last personnel to leave site. Therefore, suitable key holder insurance will need to be in place. If there should be either a school event or an external letting taking place, the school’s site team will be responsible for the locking and securing of any buildings concerned, as well as the main school gate.

A day time janitor is also required to work year round, Mon-Fri 8.30-16.00, excluding bank holidays and the period between Christmas and New Year. In school holidays they would be responsible for the cleaning of any areas that have been in use. Any surplus time available in holiday periods should be spent on periodic cleaning tasks.

The Client would also like the supplier to provide a quotation for an annual window cleaning service for the site as a potential additional chargeable service.

Whilst the Client prioritises value for money as a key objective of the competitive tender process, the Governing body is not obliged to accept the lowest price. The value of the contract for the current year, based on 13 800 m2, is 153 963 GBP. This sum is currently being adjusted to reflect the reduced area.

Further information is provided in the SQ document.