As the school summer term draws to an end, many parents will be celebrating a temporary reprieve from the school run, packing away the uniforms and planning holidays to far flung destinations. But when pupils leave the building for summer fun, teachers will still have to deal with tidying the classroom and getting it ready for the new intake in September. 

Packing away equipment at the end of the school year, not to mention dismantling a year’s worth of work, creativity and achievement can be a lengthy procedure. To help you make this process as easy as possible, our packing professionals at phs Teacrate have pulled together our top tips for an efficient tidy-up, along with our best storage solutions to help you achieve an organised and stress-free end to the school year.

Here are our top tips for easy classroom tidy-up and storage:

  1. Plan ahead
    Before you start, plan what you want to achieve and how you’ll achieve it. Then you can block out the time in your calendar and get started. Work out in advance who’s doing what, in what order, and what equipment you’ll need – from packing crates and screen covers, to cleaning equipment and consumables such as gloves, bags and cleaning solutions.
  2. One section at a time 
    Don’t be tempted to start dismantling everything in reach at once. By working on tidying one area at a time, you can ensure related items are kept together. It will also make for a more efficient tidying or moving process and will help with labelling and stacking any items for storage and re-use.
  3. Use labels to keep track
    It’s easy to think that you’ll remember what you’ve packed in what box. But the reality is, you’ll soon forget. By labelling each box you can easily keep track of your items. Our phs Teacrate packing crates are easy to label and stack – providing a straightforward system to keep things in order.
  4. Don’t hoard
    Teaching staff are experts in gathering loose parts, recycling everyday materials and collecting colourful stationery to feed the imaginations of children, so it can be hard to discard such treasures at the end of the year. However, as you’re packing, take time to rationalise what you have. Ask yourself – will it get used? Do I have the space? Sometimes we can have too much of a good thing!... From broken felt pens to collected cereal boxes, plastic bottles, old textbooks, and everything in between – keeping on top of the clutter is essential. Don’t keep things that don’t get used.
  5. Use sturdy boxes for safekeeping or transporting
    Crate rental can help make the process of moving classrooms or protecting school equipment over the summer holidays much easier for teachers and school staff. They provide a durable and safe way to secure or move everything from computer equipment to confidential files. At phs Teacrate we provide hard-wearing, high-quality plastic packing crates – a stronger and more sustainable alternative to cardboard boxes, that save on space, and ensure your equipment is secure.
  6. Protect your expensive assets
    Of all the classroom equipment to be protected and safely stored for the summer holidays, there is nothing more valuable than classroom computers. Storing your computer equipment – including monitors, desktop computers, laptops and tablets – can reduce the risk of theft and damage and provide peace of mind to teaching staff.Ensure you use large, sturdy boxes such as the phs Teacrate large computer crate to keep items safe. It is also advisable that when packing computers and IT equipment that you also use bubble bags to protect against electrostatic charge.

Crate bundles, protective covers and boxes for classrooms
Cost-effective crate bundles with rental plans tailored to your requirements from phs Teacrate provide everything you need for an efficient classroom move.

Benefits of crate rental from phs Teacrate:

  • Tough polypropylene is used to ensure that crates will survive any move, while protecting the contents inside.
  • Crates are made from 100% recyclable materials and are reusable, making them a sustainable choice.
  • Unlike cardboard boxes, crates can be stacked securely when full and nested when not in use.

Storing computer equipment
In addition to our packing crate bundles, phs Teacrate offers additional rental items, including computer screen covers, made of padded quilted fabric for an excellent standard of protection for monitors measuring up to 21-inches. We can also provide boxes for your computers – our large computer crates are manufactured from tough polypropylene and are ideal for moving computers and any accompanying IT equipment. They boast a generous amount of room for storing your monitor, tower computer and related equipment such as keyboards and wires.

Why choose phs Teacrate?

phs Teacrate offer a wide variety of crate rental options. Next working day delivery is available as standard on orders placed before 3:00pm on all stocked items through our national network of depots (UK mainland only). Timed delivery is also available (e.g. if you need the crates at a particular day and time (charges will apply).

Our normal delivery and collection hours are Monday – Friday from 8.30 to 5.30pm.

Want to discuss your requirements? Contact us to find out more about how we could help!