A three-storied building in AJ Block has been turned into a preschool. Kangaroo Kids has opened doors to a mix of fun, games and development.
The opening was attended by mayor Krishna Chakraborty, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan principal Arun Kumar Dasgupta, Hariyana Vidya Mandir vice-principal Kakali Bagchi and mayor-in-council Tulsi Sinha Roy.
“We are admitting children aged between a year and six years,” says principal Jayita Bhattacharya. The toddler programme, in fact, admits children at 11 months. “For them, attendance of the mothers is mandatory as they attend class seated in the mother’s lap. They come for an hour thrice a week for six months; for those aged a year and a half, there is the mother-child transitional programme of an hour and half hours three times a week. Once the child is settled, the mother’s presence is optional at this stage. Two-year-olds are independent and join the play group,” she said.
The child is assisted in climbing a wall in the classroom. The Telegraph
Classes start at 10am, which is usually past a baby’s morning feed time. Even then, a room is there without CCTV coverage for mothers of babies which might need to be breastfed.
Kangaroo Kids is a 30-year-old preschool chain. Their network, headquartered in Mumbai, is spread over 40 cities across India, Dubai, Qatar and the Maldives. It had two branches in Salt Lake, but one of them, in AD Block, shut down during Covid. Then the owner of the Park Street branch, Harsh Kumar Agarwal, was given the offer to start one in the township.
Giving The Telegraph Salt Lake a tour of the school on the day of the opening, Agarwal, the school’s managing director, said: “The walls in every classroom are theme and activity-based. This one, with handholds and footholds for climbing, is the physical activity wall. To make the premises child-safe, all edges have been rounded and every classroom is under the vigil of both a CCTV camera and a separate nanny. We toilet train the children as well.”
(Far left) A child checks out leaves and flowers using a magnifying glass. The Telegraph
There are LED screens in every classroom so that teachers can show audio-visual representations of whatever is being taught. “We provide digital learning. There is also an app related to the curriculum followed in class which will allow parents to do activities at home similar to what is being done in class — picture colouring, matching, worksheets etc,” he added.
The soft board is divided into the teacher’s section, for charting out lesson plans and holiday lists, while art works by students may be pasted in the students’ part. “We colour their palms and make them do palm painting. They love to tear out coloured paper, of which the pieces are then pasted, creating some formation by the teacher. The soft board also comes to use to teach them seasons of the year, emotions etc,” said Bhattacharya.
The school is also arranging for transport to attract children from outside Salt Lake.