Pallikoodam, Kottayam is a coeducational day cum residential school promoted in 1967 by the eminent educator and women’s rights activist, Mary Roy. “Pallikoodam” means school in Malayalam language.
The medium of instruction in nursery, class I, II and III is Malayalam and children are encouraged to learn spoken English through music and drama. English phonetics, basic writing and reading skills are introduced in class IV. In the middle and high school, English is the medium of instruction. Pallikoodam follows the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) syllabus only from class IX.
The Pallikoodam school campus was designed by architect Laurie Baker and includes a swimming pool, basketball and volleyball courts, a football field, an 800-seat auditorium and platforms for theatre and other performing arts.
The school library features over 9,000 volumes and a variety of newspapers and magazines. The junior school has its own laboratories for math and science and the senior school has well equipped labs for biology, physics, and chemistry and computer science.
Only vegetarian food is served in the school canteen and home food brought by day scholars must also be vegetarian. Children are encouraged to familiarize themselves with table etiquette during lunch hours. The school employs professionally trained special needs teacher in charge differently abled children.
The school has a well equipped resource room for sculpture, pottery, drawing, painting and tailoring. Serious artists can opt for fine arts as a subject in the class X or XII board examinations.
Pallikoodam has an integrated agricultural farm for children to learn the basics of vegetable and fruit cultivation, paddy and fish culture. The farm also hosts dairy and poultry units.
Pallikoodam is affiliated with CISCE and prepares students for the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) and Indian School Certificate (ISC) examinations at the end of class X and XII respectively. The teachers refer multiple textbooks and resources to prepare course material and worksheets and students study from their lecture notes and worksheets. No textbooks are given to students. Private tuitions are discouraged at Pallikoodam and any student taking private tuition is barred from attending regular classes for that subject. This applies to all classes except classes XI and XII.
The school has successfully implemented continuous and comprehensive evaluation for the students; there are no examinations from nursery to class VIII except for a final examination at the end of class VIII. Children are graded according to random tests that are conducted after completion of each unit.
Extracurricular: Besides academics, the school promotes co-curricular activities such as physical education, drama, yoga, cooking, embroidery and garment making, drawing, painting and sculpture. Extracurricular activities after school hours are karate, dance, guitar, Carnatic music, Kathakali, Bharatanatyam and NCC.
Mary Roy
Admission forms can be downloaded from the school website and the following original certificates must be submitted at the school office during the time of admission.
Transfer certificate from the school last attended.
Conduct certificate from the school last attended.
Original mark sheet at the qualifying examination
A copy of the birth certificate.
For admission to class XI a migration certificate is necessary if the candidate has been pursuing education in a school not affiliated with CISCE. If the class X qualifying examination is not the ICSE, admission will be subject to performance in an entrance test and confirmed on receipt of an eligibility certificate from the CISCE.
The school has partnered with activist organizations including Greenpeace, EXNORA, and several NGOs in Kerala for environment and community service projects. Victim relief efforts have been organized by the school in the wake of disasters such as the Orissa cyclones and the 2005 tsunami.
Pallikoodam is also the winner of the TCS IT Wiz trophy in 2006 and 2009. The school hosts regular student exchange programs with Abacus Montessori School, Chennai and St Mary’s School, Delhi and international exchange programs with Mowbray College, Melbourne, Australia,
The Wayland High School, Boston, USA and Birkerod Gymnasium in Denmark.
The school hostel can accommodate about 100 children and the boarders get an extra share of non-scholastic activities. Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals are offered to the students.