Olcott Memorial Higher Secondary School (Unit of the Olcott Education Society)

Supported by: Wipro Cares

About Olcott Memorial Higher Secondary School

Olcott Memorial Higher Secondary School is a full-fledged school from KG to Grade 12. It is located in Chennai and caters to the underprivileged children and first-generation learners of our community.

New approaches adopted in response to COVID

The academic year 2020-21 has been a challenging year due to pandemic and lockdown. Despite that, we, at Olcott School, tried our best to ensure a continual learning process for both teachers and students. Innovations, creativity, and ideas were the hallmark of this year to ensure that these underprivileged students are not denied their right to education. It is noteworthy that during this pandemic some of our teachers have participated in some online training to equip themselves for changes in the teaching and learning process.

It is noteworthy that many teachers became tech-savvy and prepared presentations for their subjects and took live online classes for the students. Lesson videos are made by primary-school teachers and then, sent to parents of students. The videos are shown to students by parents. Parents also take videos or photos of students’ homework and activities and send them to teachers. It is a great pleasure for parents of primary school students to collaborate with teachers.

September marked the beginning of a great era for Olcott School. The school went digital by procuring tablets for students of classes 9 to 12, in order to ensure that every child will be able to attend online classes with ease. The school mobilized funds for the same through donations. The school went on national television. On 05/09/2020, teachers were trained to operate Google Classroom and set up tablets.

On 15/12/2020, peanut balls, dates, and health mix were distributed to all the students of classes KG to 12. This happens every month now to ensure nutritional supplement to students. Students in grades one to eight were provided with worksheets to enhance their learning abilities, as they do not have any electronic equipment to attend classes online.

On 15/02/2021, in order to increase the reading ability of students in grade one to five, it was decided that students could be given reading training through online class.  Our Director, Academics highlighted the support the parents need to give their children during this lockdown. Storybooks were purchased according to the students’ reading level and handed over to their parents. Parents were asked to help students by giving them their cell phones.  The school administration also promised to recharge their mobile phones.

On 26/02/2021, Students of grade 1 to 5 were distributed worksheets, board games, painting books, craft materials, nutritional balls and multigrain porridge mix.

A training session for parents was conducted to highlight the support they could render for their children. They were requested to spend quality time with their children playing board games and craft activities, in order to retain the basic skills, which they had learnt earlier. The completed worksheets were collected regularly and feedback was given. Reading books were exchanged every week. There is no doubt that Olcott School managed the year 2020-2021 with some innovative inputs. Digital learning was the highlight of this year for both students and teachers. Hope normalcy is restored by the forthcoming academic year and we resume all routine activities like annual day, sports day, project day and normal classroom learning.

Plan for the Next 1-3 Years

Focus on improving reading and writing skills in both English and Tamil; Making classrooms more colorful and vibrant for primary students to create joy of learning; Regular orientation from voluntary organization to encourage higher education and personality development; Cultural exposure through various activities and celebrations; Regular Teacher Enhancement programs; Productive use of purchased tablets; Focus on increasing the strength of the school; Focus on strengthening commitment, motivation, and accountability of both students and teachers.