CrestClean shines at Trans-Tasman Principals’ Conference
The Te Pae Convention Centre in Christchurch was abuzz with school leaders from Australia and New Zealand at the recent Trans-Tasman Principals’ Conference. As a Gold Business Partner of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF), CrestClean was proud to support the event.
There to represent CrestClean were Sam Lewis, Yasa Panagoda, Jan Lichtwark, Viky Narayan and Nikki Wallis.
Although the NZPF hosts an annual conference, every fourth year they invite the Australian Primary Principals’ Association (APPA). Due to COVID-19, the 2020 event was postponed, making this year the first time in eight years that principals from Australia and New Zealand have come together.
The CrestClean team had a busy few days, meeting school leaders and showcasing CrestClean’s unique qualities. They also hosted a prize draw for a UE Boom portable speaker, with Rachelle Peterson from Otahuhu Primary being the lucky winner.
Sam says this year’s event was the best one yet.
“The interactions with everyone at the conference were overwhelmingly positive.”
Viky reiterated the event’s success, noting the principals’ appreciation for CrestClean’s service in the education sector.
“It was very clear that principals value CrestClean as a trusted partner, which positively impacts each school environment,” says Viky.
Viky says that trust is the most important part of the relationship between CrestClean and schools. He was happy to receive so much positive feedback about CrestClean’s impact within the education sector.
“School leaders shared their feedback on how our high standard of cleaning has contributed to creating a safer environment for staff and students.”
“It was good to hear that we’re really making a difference.”
Jan enjoyed meeting a wide range of principals from both large and small schools outside the usual work environment.
“The principals I engaged with were genuinely interested in discussing the challenges they face as well as sharing positive feedback about the cleaning services,” says Jan.
As a sponsor of the NZPF since 2008, CrestClean was invited to deliver a presentation on the second day of the conference. Sam spoke to an audience of around 1200 people where he emphasised CrestClean’s stability and transparency.
In line with Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week), Sam extended a warm welcome in te reo Māori, before thanking those in attendance and sharing a brief history of the company and its longstanding relationship with the NZPF.
“We clean 650 schools in New Zealand, and we’re all about long-standing relationships. The average relationship with schools is 8.5 years, so this means our franchisees become long-term members of the school community, which is great,” says Sam.
Sam used the opportunity to showcase CrestClean’s corporate responsibility programme, RecycleKiwi. While displaying the RecycleKiwi videos of Indi explaining the new recycling rules, Sam highlighted the benefits of using RecycleKiwi in schools.
Following Sam’s presentation, RecycleKiwi became a central focus at the CrestClean booth, attracting a steady stream of attendees eager to find out more about the programme.
“After the speech we were inundated with enquiries, so it resonated really well with the principals,” says Sam.
“With the new standardised recycling rules, it was very timely to speak about RecycleKiwi.”
Yasa was equally impressed by the strong interest in RecycleKiwi, noting that the programme captured the attention of principals visiting the CrestClean booth and led to many inquiries about how to implement the recycling system.
“RecycleKiwi was a big hit this year,” says Yasa. “Everyone loved the short videos.”
This year’s event surpassed previous years, leaving the CrestClean team enthusiastic about the brand’s strong reputation throughout New Zealand schools.
