Education! The word itself gives us the liberty to imagine something beautiful and essential for the community’s growth. Being such a noble profession of shaping the beautiful lives of people, teachers are responsible for imbibing the qualities that will help the younger generation lead a fulfilling life.

The world is structured in a very organised way. From the finances, lifestyle to profession and creativity, education sets the bedrock for everything for the youth. As Dr. Ivan Fitzwater, a prominent educator in his poem narrates,

“…Several future presidents are learning from me today-

So are the great writers of the next decades,

And so are the so-called ordinary people

Who make the decisions in a democracy…’

It tells us the importance of education and teacher in one’s life.

Unlike the specialised education that caters specific niche of the Learning curve in a student’s life, the early formal education is responsible for developing important values like punctuality, honesty, creativity, kindness, independence, empathy, trust, humour, and tolerance. These values add meaning to life and bring the required discipline that paves the way for the holistic development of the younger generation.

With a vision to imbibe these qualities in the younger generation, Unique Public School was incepted in 2016 , the hardwork of the Managemnet,Principal, Staff and the Students took the school to new heights and created a strong foothold of quality education in the Queen of Hills Ooty, The Nilgiris.

Eminent Academicians Dream of Creating a Unique School

Unique Public School is a residential and co-educational school with a tradition of providing quality education to residents of Ooty. Being an autonomous institution run under the aegis of trust MOISO (Member of International School Ooty), the school holds some eminent academicians in its governing body that enriches the learning experience at the school.

The school has established global quality education standards rooted in traditional values and culture, with a perspective of holistic development.  Well qualified and dedicated Teachers were the root for the success of Unique . Their Commitment and love for each and every students were remarkable. Special programs to bridge the Fast learners and slow bloomers was a successful one whih is a need of the hour.Unique Public School also has a unique campus with a beautiful ambience, set amidst the beauty of nature that adds to the enhancement of education facilities at the school. The school has a beautiful Football pitch Cricket Nets for practicing, a Basketball court, Indoor Table Tennis Court, Science laboratories, Maths Lab, smart classrooms, and a homely residential block for the residential students.

Visionary Mission of Going Beyond Formal Education

Mission: The school is on a mission to impart an education not restricted to formal schooling only. The school aims to empower an individual to be achievers through experience. The school inspires, educates, challenges, and supports the students to reach their highest learning and personal development level.

Vision: To materialise the dreams of blossoming minds of the young generation with innate zeal for learning and explore the joy of learning in a holistic environment. Unique Public School has envisaged a system that aims at a multifaceted development of the child’s physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual personality by nurturing their unexplored potential and encouraging liberty to be creative, expressive, and free.

Wings that Took UPS to New Heights

The person that is to be credited for taking the school to new heights is the Principal of Unique Public School, Mrs. Gayathri Raman. She has a rich experience of 23 years as an eminent educator. Accumulating an incredible team with the backing of the Management committee Dr.K.R.Rangaraj ,Mr.R.Ravi Rao and Mr.J.Nandeeshwaran , Mrs. Gayathri, with her innovative and creative ideas, has given wings to the school. Understanding and catering to the special needs of the school, it was her dedication that boosted admissions in the school. Under the guidance of the eminent academicians and her Leadership, the school has increased immensely in its strength which went up from 90 in 2016 to 640 students in 2022.

Her sheer confidence in Demonstration and Distributive Leadership has helped students and teachers develop interesting personalities. As a new management committee, she had an additional responsibility to create brand awareness about the school and enhance the declining education quality.Special emphasis was given in the quality of Education and in Extra Curricular Activities to help children develop an Holistic approach to face the Global Challenges . Further , with the use of Technologies and new methodologies he maintained the consistency which Facebook the school to new heights of laurels in Ooty.

Due to her dedication, persistence, and effective leadership, the school was upgraded to Higher Secondary School in 2018. Mrs. Gayathri Raman has also introduced the idea of carnivals, which was a great success to pull admissions. Along with that, she has started various initiatives to discipline the students.

Moreover, she also recognises the need to understand safety for the younger generation; that is why she has introduced lessons to ensure safety at the school, especially for girl children. Moreover, she has won awards which include the Best Teacher Award, Best Principal Award, Best National Builder Award in 2109, National Leadership Award from School Stars in 2020, and Best Principal Award in 2021 and 2022. Under her Guidence the school has received National award for promoting Co-Curricular activities  in 2020, Best School Award for 100 % results in Boardf Examination for Consecutive  6 years, Best School of the Year Award in 2022 from Asian Education Awards.

Exploring the Joy of Learning

Unique Public School is really unique because it adds that fun element to the learning process that makes it joyous. It also gives the students liberty to explore learning through various curricular and extra-curricular activities. Emphasising of the learning endeavour that encourages engagement at the school, Mrs. Gayathri says, “We celebrate all the days without fail with a concept, and this has not stopped for nearly 6 years. As a part of our extra-curricular activities, we have Karate, Yoga, singing, instrumental and Dance. These Extra-curricular activities are given to all free of cost within the fees. All the students participate in all the activities from Grade 1 to Grade 5, and then in Grade 6, they take the privilege of showing their interest in what they are passionate about. Then they are given special training according to their interest.”

“As a part of the Co-Curricular activities, we have various clubs like Go Green Club, Mothers Club, Adore Club, Literary Club, Interact Club, Sports Club, Abdul Kalam Club, and Ramanujam Club. Students can choose two clubs according to their interests and participate in the events. As our school is placed in a beautiful Place, children can easily meagre with the nature and happily participate in all the events. We give special emphasis on sports; we have a beautiful football ground which is the talk of the town. Our Cricket nets attract our students. We do have a table tennis court and basketball court. We do have good district level players. All students in our school know to play chess and solve cubes. We don’t restrict children from playing; the chess boards are available all time during the break and lunch. This has attracted the students where they don’t spend time in other activities,” she adds.

Unique Public School’s Unique Values and Learning Objective

Unique Public School is a community for effective teaching and learning; they see to develop self-esteem and derive pleasure in learning through a stimulating, supportive and happy environment. The school being set in calm and scenic nature, the school values grooming students in a happy environment, which will help all the school members reach their potential in intellect, physique, morality, and social domains.

Highlighting some of the major values of the school, Mrs. Gayathri explains, “UPS recognises the importance of communication. We encourage and support effective communication between all members of the school community. We use positive behaviour management, model good behaviour, use a reward system, use sanctions sparingly, support each other and are kind and polite.”

Moreover, the school’s main learning objective is to give liberty to students to explore the joy of learning. Explaining some of the highlights of the learning objective Mrs. Gayathri says, “The Learning outcome is always Child Centred on learning. We personally believe that learning should be fun and not a burden. We prioritise strengthening the children in the basics of all the subjects, communication skills, interpersonal skills, intrapersonal skills, and soft skills. We feel that developing a child into a good citizen is the first thing that should be given priority. They should be ready to face all the challenges that this world gives them.”

Adapting to Modern Technology

Modern technology was flourishing in the education sector for a while when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the education sector hard. Though the need of educating the younger generation was held on high priority, the Unique Public School effectively adapted to modern technology to keep the process ongoing. Moreover, the head of the institute’s experience with an online company made the process sophisticated and sorted for the school.

Explaining how the process digital transition process evolved at the school, Mrs. Gayathri explains, “We initially started with the WhatsApp classes and then slowly went on with Zoom, Google Meet, Google Classroom, and Microsoft Teams, but in all these aspects, we were very particular about the safety measures for our students both physically and mentally. Our sessions were worked such that there were only 2 to 3 sessions and a break between the sessions. The students were taught eye exercises which they had to do after each session. We made the parents to participate in all the activities online so that they took the responsibility of monitoring the child.”

“Once the session is over every day, we informed the parents about taking the phone, and we freeze the group so that there is no need for the child to have the mobile. In the evening, the teachers would come for one hour to help with the reviews and homework. We had special counselling sessions for all the children where they were briefed about the safety measures to be followed while using social media. They were given numbers where they could complain if they face any issues while being online. This made them feel that they had someone to safeguard them. Soon the children adapted to our system, and handling them online was easy, and we did not face any big issues as such. Now when the offline classes have been started, we could see a big change in both the students and the teachers where they have bounced back very strong technically,” Mrs. Gayathri adds.

Unique Plans Awaiting for the Future

Envisioning the future of the school, Mrs. Gayathri shares, “We personally believe that from now for five years, Unique will have its special place among the students and the parents. Unique will be Unique in shaping the students and transforming them into the right citizen with values who will, in turn, contribute to society. Rather than just making them get their certificate, we will place ourselves as a school imparting the skill-based learning according to the interest of each and every child.”

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