School Experience at Saupin’s School, Chandigarh: Supportive Teachers; High-Quality Education; Collaborative Learning Environment

This experience is written anonymously by a student from Saupin’s School in Chandigarh and an Emerging Leader at NoticeBard.

Name of the Student

Anonymous.

Name of the School

Saupin’s School, Sector 32-A, Chandigarh.

How did you apply to this School?

Based on the information in newspapers and the school’s website, my parents applied in November 2010 for admission to LKG through a prospectus & admission form for the academic session starting in April 2011. I had undergone written & oral tests and even a personal interview of my parents along with me was taken.

What are some of the good things about the faculty of your School?

Before sharing some good things about the faculty of Saupin’s School, I would like to start with the Principle cum Director of the school, Mr. AB Sidhu. He is highly qualified (M.A., B.Ed., M.Ed.), knowledgeable, and experienced. He is an empathetic person, having good leadership skills and with respectful attitude.

Following are some good qualities of Kindergarten Teachers of Saupin’s School:

• They are very passionate, energetic, motivating, creative, patient, compassionate, and accommodating in nature.
• They also monitor the student’s diet and activities and inspire them to remain physically fit and active.
• Kindergarten teachers of Saupin’s School pay extra attention to the weak and underperforming students and focus on improving their habits, and behavior and uplifting their skills.
• Teachers are engaged in conducting a lot of class activities in order to boost the confidence level of students and prevent them from getting bored.

Following are some good qualities of Kindergarten Teachers of Saupin’s School:

• All the teachers are highly qualified, experienced, well trained, knowledgeable & up-to-date, adaptive in nature, good communicators, free from bias, innovative, problem solving, and confident.
• They always teach students how to survive in society and guide them on the right track and they adhere to teaching standards and safety regulations.
• The faculty of Saupin’s is adaptable and flexible to change an evolving environment constantly. By doing this, they change their teaching strategies and practices from time to time.
• They are determining each student’s strengths and weaknesses. Also, they are doing regular assessments of student’s performance and progress to ensure that they are mastering the skills regularly. They maintain an open line of communication with parents and provide appropriate information through monthly Parent Teacher Meetings.

Apart from academics, Saupin’s faculty is always inspiring students to participate in Clubs, P.T., Yoga, in-door & out-door games, computer classes, social activities, exhibitions, lab practicals, annual functions, inter-school competitions & quizzes for their skill upgradation and keeping a close watch on their medical fitness for their physical & mental growth.

What are some of the bad things about the faculty of your School?

It is very difficult to answer these questions because there are no major critical gaps in the faculty of Saupin’s School. But still, I observed some areas which can be taken into consideration by the school authorities and make their teaching system even better:

• There are no faculties for teaching foreign languages (additional subjects).
• There is no faculty for NCC and NSS training.
• The teachers are focusing only on the CBSE curriculum and giving very little time to teach about competitive examinations.
• Teachers are not taking much initiative for educational trips to higher institutions and industrial visits.

What are some of the good things about the infrastructure of your School?

Following are the good things about the infrastructure of Saupin’s School, Chandigarh:

• The school building is located in the urban area of Chandigarh and is beautifully designed. It is the only school in the vicinity with a ramp up to the top floor, to cater to differently-abled children.
• The school building is equipped with modern safety and security systems like fire hydrants, fire extinguishers, and emergency assembly points.
• The entire school including all the classes is under CCTV surveillance and is wi-fi enabled. The classrooms are air-conditioned and are equipped with smart boards.
• There is a playground and a basketball court for young students and a separate play area for early birds (kids).
• There is a computer room, maths lab, science lab, music room, and AV room which is well equipped with a projector, a large screen, and a sound system.
• There is a very well-stocked library with a variety of books and a peaceful atmosphere.
• There are drinking water stations and gender-wise sanitation facilities on each floor.
• A canteen facility is available on the school premises.
• The school has its own website, app & ID on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., where teachers can share information and general notifications, school activities and competitions, achievements and awards, etc. and it is very helpful for parents to update about school activities & useful for fee payments.
• Children are provided a safe transportation facility that is well equipped with a GPS tracking system and with both male & female bus conductors.
• The school also has an infirmary (medical room) with a doctor and nurse.

What are some of the bad things about the infrastructure of your School?

I don’t think there is any bad thing about the infrastructure of Saupin’s school, Chandigarh. But keeping given new technology, environment, and new generation, there are some areas for improvements for which management can think and take a call to improve for better services in the future:

• The same variety of food items are served in the canteen daily, and some of these items are not healthy.
• High consumption of energy and water, emission of greenhouse gasses (CO2, CFCs, etc.) due to all air-conditioned rooms & offices causing harm to the environment.
• Constraint in building space i.e. less land area under school.
• Unfortunately, there is no Humanities and Science stream for 11th and 12th standard.

What are some of the good things about the teacher-to-student ratio of your School?

The following are the good things about this teacher-to-student ratio:

• Teachers have time to plan, access & evaluate.
• Teachers spare additional time for weaker students for their improvement.
• Everyone gets a chance to participate in class activities and competitions.
• This helps to create a strong bond between the teacher and the student.

What are some of the bad things about the teacher-to-student ratio of your School?

• Most of the time, teachers are working very hard and taking the pain to complete the academic syllabus, and parallelly students are also overburdened with homework, and they can’t spare time for additional co-curricular activities. As per my observations, the existing student-teacher ratio is on the higher side, and seems some gaps are there due to the high student-teacher ratio.
• Students get less time for revision and self-study as they are busy finishing their homework.
• One-to-one, student-teacher interaction is not possible due to the high student-teacher ratio in the school.
• Due to the heavy workload being faced by the teachers, sometimes they have to take students’ notebooks and assignments to their homes for checking/assessment.

What are some of the great initiatives/amenities offered in your School?

I have seen a lot of good & prompt initiatives taken by Saupin’s School, Chandigarh in the last few years:

• During COVID-19, the school administration updated their existing IT set-up and procured new IT infrastructure & licenses to use new technology for the virtual classes.
• School administration conducted training sessions for teachers, parents, and students to use the new technology of online classes through Zoom, Google Meet, MS Team, etc. during the pandemic.
• During COVID-19 the school had taken the initiative to conduct daily online classes of yoga to improve the immunity and stamina of students.
• Strictly followed COVID-19 guidelines & protocols like sanitization system, mandatory personal protective equipment, and distance maintenance in school while re-starting the off-line classes in COVID-19.
• The school had initiated virtual assessment, evaluation of students, and Parent Teacher Meetings through online mode during COVID-19.
• Resource rooms for differently-abled students and well-trained teachers as well as counselors for them.
• GPS/bus tracker is installed in buses and additional female bus conductors for the safety of children.

What are the things you would have liked to change about your School if you could?

It will be a great opportunity for me to change the following things about my school for better results & output:

• I will add foreign languages to the curriculum.
• I will NCC and NSS for students of classes 9th onwards.
• I will plan more educational trips and initiate industrial visits for students to enhance their knowledge and skills.
• I will take suggestions from the students and consult with the experts to save the environment and reduce energy & water consumption.
• I will get a consultation from expert civil engineers, architects, and government bodies to give their approvals to expand the building to build an auditorium, creating space for new games like swimming, badminton, shooting, lawn tennis, etc., and science and humanities stream for 11th and 12th standard.
• I will try to reduce the teacher-student ratio to 1:30 for better output.
• Additional merit pay for teachers who are achieving some KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to encourage them for better services.
• Start a cash reward system for students who are achieving key parameters of punctuality, and academic & extracurricular activities to encourage them to better output.
• I will introduce the science and humanities stream for students in classes 11th and 12th.
• I will initiate regular safety training, emergency mock drills, and frequent checks on the school canteen facility.

How likely are you to recommend this School to other students?

7 out of 10.

Image taken from here.