Getting in touch with the school
What happens if my child has lost something in school?
The maushis clean up all the classrooms after the school day is over. Whatever is found in the classroom is put in the lost and found box. So, the next day your child can check that out and get back whatever was forgotten. Just make sure everything is properly labelled. That said, don’t send exclusive or expensive stuff to school that would upset you if lost!
How can I call the school to generally ask how my child is or to talk to my child?
Please do not do this at all. The admin team that is answering the calls is in different offices. The team that is with your children is somewhere in the campus with them depending on what activity the kids have in their timetable. There is absolutely no way that this information can be given to you. If the child is unwell please do not send them to school. If we call you and ask you to come to pick the child up because they are unwell, again the same applies. The sick bay and the admin team are at different locations. The child cannot come to the phone to talk to you. Just come to the school in that situation and pick them up. They are unwell and need to go home.
Connecting with the school for general queries
Write to us at feedback@walnutedu.in
How do I meet the Principal / Vice Principal / Administrator?
Prior appointments with proper information are essential to meet with the heads of the school. While we value parents’ involvement in their child’s education, the school management is busy in the school with the students and teachers and cannot be available on demand. Parents have to send in an email with their queries / concerns beforehand. Then, the issue is assigned to the concerned people and investigated. In case an appointment is actually needed to resolve it or explain it, that is then scheduled with the parents. Most issues / queries are resolved asynchronously through our administrative teams quite efficiently. So, please send us your question / concern / complaint over email as the starting point.
How do PTMs happen?
There are two PTMs every quarter at Walnut. The two formats are Online PTM and Offline PTM.
Offline PTM : These are held once a quarter on a Saturday morning which is marked in the calendar. Parents can come and speak with the teacher that they wish. The location of where different teachers are available is shared with the parents the day before.
Online PTM : These are held once a quarter. Parents of a division can connect with the core subject teachers within the given time slot. These are held over the course of the week.
Why are some parents unable to enter the online PTM room?
Parents have to join the online PTM (or any link sent by the school) using the student’s Walnut ID only. That is the standard and only way to access any links shared by the school.
We use Google Meet for these meetings. Google meet does not have a waiting room. If you use the Walnut ID then you directly get connected. If you got the message that you had to be “admitted” into the meeting or need “permission” or have “no access” it means that you did not use the Walnut ID. Please try to keep these things in mind.
Please note that PTMs cannot be repeated. We have one week of online PTMs and one offline PTM each quarter. If you miss any for any reason, you can always plan to catch the next scheduled one.
Rescheduling a PTM or asking for an online PTM on a Saturday
Since we wish to give all parents a chance to reach out to all the core subject teachers it is important to figure out a way to do so in such a way that a parent does not end up having a meeting with two teachers at the same time or a teacher does not end up having a meeting with two parent groups at the same time. This has to be figured out during the teacher’s working hours when they do not have to attend training sessions and take classes and do worksheet checking and other school duties. So we absolutely cannot reschedule the PTMs.
The online PTMs are actually very easy to attend. You do not have to come to school for them, you can attend from wherever you already are. Also, they are not compulsory at all. They are also subject wise, so it is up to you as to which ones you want to attend. If you have specific questions, it does not take more than 5 minutes.
This is all amazingly convenient for the parents and very thoughtfully and painstakingly organized by the school. If you have any specific question, you can always email us. If there is a severe problem that the teacher wants to tell you, the school team will reach out to you. We do not wait for PTMs for such cases and we also do not share such problems in front of other parents. We also have one offline PTM scheduled every quarter, which is on a Saturday morning. You can try to catch that one, if you wish.
How can I meet a certain teacher apart from the PTM time?
Please note that we do not have on-demand appointments with individual teachers. To ensure that our teachers can devote their time to their students, we ask that you follow the PTM schedule that allows you to interact with each subject teacher. Additionally, you can always email your specific concern or question to us. It will definitely be looked into and addressed.
How can I get information about my child’s “class teacher”?
We do not have a specific “Class Teacher” or “Mother teacher” allotted to any class, since different teachers teach different subjects that they are trained for. All teachers who are interacting with your child are noting down their observations which are shared with you in the PTM. This helps ALL of us (parents, teachers, management) to have an all – round perspective of each child.
All teachers are trained and follow the Walnut Learning System. They rotate between classes after certain intervals so that all teachers and all students are reasonably familiar with each other. When a teacher is absent, there is no problem with an alternate teacher stepping in and taking over.
For some subjects and activities there are different skill sets that we are developing in the children. These change from topic to topic. So the best teacher suited for that topic is assigned those lessons and activities. This also works very well with the upcoming NEP guidelines.
Why has my child’s teacher changed?Asking for a certain teacher to not be changed / substituted
There are certain unpredictable circumstances when a teacher becomes unavailable. It can be teachers falling sick and going on long leave or teachers having to attend mandatory training or supervising exams etc. Sometimes, a teacher moves to a different location or may choose to work at a different institution altogether. We arrange short term or long term substitutes in these situations to make sure that our students are on track with their studies and they continue with uninterrupted learning.
Please be assured that all our teachers are really nice and they all follow the same learning system. Younger children may require some time to open up to a new person – but the teacher is quite understanding of that. Within a week or two the children start adjusting to the new teachers as well.
How do I get information on a timely basis about what is happening in school?
Walnut parents get constant information about their child’s activities and performance in many ways
Parents get to see exactly what was taught in each class on a daily basis and what classwork and homework was assigned to the students through the WalSh app.
The worksheets that the students work on are seen by the teacher and sent home. Parents can go through those as well.
Students have to take chapterwise tests on Walmiki (MCQ tests). Parents can see the child’s performance there too.
Multiple practice tests are evaluated each quarter and sent home for parents to see.
Parents also get the actual answer sheets of the child home after they are checked by the teacher.
There are also two opportunities to interact with the teacher in every quarter.
How do I contact the school in an emergency?
An emergency situation in your family can only translate to an early pick up that you may need to suddenly schedule for your child. You can call on the school number in that case and the team will guide you from there. Do note that we cannot bring your child to the phone or connect you directly to certain specific staff members.
How does the school contact the parent in an emergency? What happens if my kid feels sick or gets hurt while in school?
Emergency situations can be generated in the school where a child may have hurt themselves or hurt others. In that case, some team member from the school will call you, update you and ask you to come to the school. Please cooperate with the school and be prompt in your actions in that case.
If the kid is mildly or moderately unwell / hurt , we bring the kid to the ‘Sick Bay’ to rest and inform parents by making a call to pick up the kid. Meanwhile we do the first aid that is required. Kindly note that we don’t do any medication in school if the child is unwell/hurt. If it is a severe case we take the kid to the nearest clinic and then connect the medical staff there with the parents.
It can so happen that the parent does not answer the phone when the school calls or the phone does not connect. Our team calls all the numbers registered with us two times and then sends an email to update the parent about the situation