Freshly mown roadside verge at a commercial site

Commercial · Schools & childcare

Grounds maintenance for schools and childcare in Tauranga

School and early childhood grounds work hard. Fields get worn, play areas need to stay safe and gardens need to look cared for at the front gate. We mow, trim and spray on a schedule built around sessions, play times and holidays, with a site-specific health and safety plan before we start.

Schools & childcare

Work scheduled around sessions, play times and holidays, with a safety plan for every site.

  • Visits booked around sessions, play times and holidays
  • Fields, play areas and boundaries kept tidy
  • Site induction and a health and safety plan before we start
  • Locally owned
  • Site H&S plans
  • Reply in 1 day
  • Photo reports

Schools & childcare

What schools and childcare centres need from a grounds contractor

What we hear from committees, managers and site owners, and how we handle it.

  • Work around the timetable

    Mowing and spraying booked before school, after school or in the holidays, and never while children are using the area.

  • Safe play areas

    Fence lines, boundaries and play areas kept clear, with prickles and weeds treated at the right time of year and signage used when spraying.

  • Fields ready for use

    Fields and grassed areas mowed often enough in spring to stay usable, and cut at a height that copes with wear.

  • Sign-in and site rules

    We follow your sign-in process and site rules on every visit, and agree access and parking before the first one.

Sites

School and early childhood grounds we look after

Each site is planned around the timetable, the children and how the grounds are used.

  • Primary and intermediate schools

    Fields, playgrounds, boundaries and front gardens, worked around the school day and term breaks.

  • Kindergartens and childcare centres

    Smaller sites where play areas and fence lines need to stay safe and tidy.

  • Fields and grassed areas

    Grass kept at a usable height for sport and play, especially through the spring surge.

  • Gardens and entrances

    Front gardens, planters and entrances that parents and visitors see every day.

Scope

School grounds maintenance: what's included

A typical scope for a Tauranga school or centre. We write yours with the property manager or centre manager after a site walk.

Every visit

  • Mowing fields, lawns and grassed play areas
  • Edges trimmed along paths and fences
  • Paths, courts and entrances blown clean
  • Litter picked up
  • A short report for the property or centre manager

Seasonal

  • Hedge and shrub trimming
  • Weeding gardens and planters
  • Weed spraying on paths and fence lines, with signage
  • Prickle spraying on fields in winter
  • Autumn leaf clearing

By arrangement

  • Big tidy-ups in the school holidays
  • Garden refreshes and planting
  • Clearing overgrown banks and boundaries
  • Storm clean-ups

Not included

  • Tree felling and large tree work (we can point you to an arborist)
  • Irrigation repairs and plumbing
  • Building, paving or retaining wall repairs
Neatly mown grass berm and lawn either side of a residential footpath

How it works

How a school or centre contract works

  1. Free site walkWe walk the grounds with the property manager, principal or centre manager, and note fields, play areas, gardens and access.
  2. Timetabled scheduleYou get a written scope and a schedule built around terms, sessions and holidays.
  3. Health and safety planA site-specific health and safety plan before the first visit, covering children on site, spraying and equipment.
  4. Visits with reportsA short report after each visit, so the board or centre manager knows what's been done.
Book a free site walk

Through the year

A year of grounds care at a Tauranga school

The schedule follows the school year as well as the grass. Bigger, noisier jobs are saved for the holidays.

  1. SpringSep–Nov

    Fields grow fast and sport starts up. Mowing steps up, gardens weeded and the first hedge trim done.

  2. SummerDec–Feb

    Peak growth. The summer holidays are the best time for big tidy-ups while the grounds are empty.

  3. AutumnMar–May

    Leaf fall and the second hedge trim. A good time to re-sow worn patches on fields.

  4. WinterJun–Aug

    Fewer mowing visits. Prickle spraying on fields before spring, timed outside school hours.

Compliance

Keeping children safe while we work

A school or centre shares health and safety duties with every contractor it brings on site, and those duties can't be contracted out. Planning the work around children is the starting point.

Questions to ask any school grounds contractor

  1. When will you work, and how will you keep children away from it?
  2. How do you notify us before you spray?
  3. Will you follow our sign-in and site rules?
  4. Will you write a safety plan for our site?
  5. Are you insured, and can we see the certificate?

Source: WorkSafe: overlapping duties. General information, not legal advice.

  • Site-specific safety plan

    Written before the first visit, covering children on site, vehicles, equipment and spraying.

  • Work outside play times

    Mowing and spraying booked before or after school, in breaks between sessions or in the holidays.

  • Insurance

    Public liability insurance, with the certificate supplied with your quote.

  • A report after each visit

    What was done and anything we noticed, like a damaged fence or a hazard in a play area.

FAQs

Schools & childcare: common questions

Can't see your question? Call or text 0800 634 245 and talk to the team.

Can you do the big jobs in the school holidays?

Yes. Hedge reductions, big garden tidy-ups and other noisy jobs can be saved for the holidays, when the grounds are empty.

Can you get rid of prickles on the field?

Yes. Onehunga prickles are best sprayed in winter, before they form, which is why we plan it into the schedule rather than waiting for complaints in spring.

How do you keep children safe while you're working?

We only work in areas that aren't in use, follow your sign-in and site rules, and put up signage when we spray. It's all set out in the health and safety plan.

Do you look after kindergartens and childcare centres too?

Yes. Smaller sites get the same planning, with visits timed outside session hours.

Do you put up signs when you spray?

Yes. Spraying is scheduled outside the hours children use the area, and signage goes up where we've sprayed.

Free quote

Book a free site assessment

Tell us about your site and we'll arrange a time to walk it with you. You'll get a written scope and price.

Call 0800 634 245

Monday – Friday 7:30am – 5:30pm · Saturday 8:00am – 1:00pm

  • 5.0 on Google
  • Fully insured
  • H&S plan for every site
  • Photo report after every visit

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