Playgroup, Nursery and KG for children aged 2 to 5 in Jodhpur Park, Kolkata. Eight children to one teacher, a garden to run in, and a day that ends with a story.
Chotto Pakhi means "little bird". We opened in 2014 in our family house on Jodhpur Park with eleven children. Today there are sixty, in three small classes, taught by six teachers and two helpers who have all been with us for more than four years.
We follow a play-based plan: every week has a theme (rain, vegetables, the post office) and every lesson is a game, a song or something to make with your hands. Reading and writing start gently in KG, so children walk into Class 1 at any Kolkata school without fear.
We speak English and Bengali in class, and a little Hindi where a child needs it.
Children move up by age each April. Fees are per month, paid quarterly. No donation, no hidden charges. Books and craft material are included in the annual charge.
First time away from home. Two hours a day to start, then three. Parents may sit in the garden for the first two weeks.
Letters and numbers through songs, stories and the weekly theme. Lots of cutting, sticking and painting. Fine motor skills before pencils.
Reading three-letter words, writing their name, simple sums. We prepare children for Class 1 interviews at South Point, DPS and other nearby schools.
Admission ₹5,000 once. Annual charge ₹4,500 for books, craft material and two uniforms. Day-care till 4 pm available for ₹1,800 a month, with lunch from home.
The same shape every day, so children know what comes next. Nursery and KG timings shown; Playgroup starts half an hour later.
Shoes off, bags on hooks. Blocks, puzzles and the book corner while everyone arrives.
Good-morning song, weather, the day's theme. Everyone gets to say one thing.
Letters, numbers or the theme, taught with games and things to touch. Twenty-five minutes, then a change.
Children eat from home. We wash hands together and sit at the long table. No chips or chocolate, please.
Slides and swings in the garden on dry days, music and movement indoors in the rains.
Paint, clay, paper tearing, pasting. Aprons on. Something goes home in the bag most days.
One story on the mat, then the goodbye song. Children are handed only to the adult on the pick-up card.
For children staying on: lunch, a nap on their own mat, quiet play. Pick-up any time till 4 pm.
Plain facts, not promises. Ask to see any of this when you visit.
Six cameras including the garden and the gate. Recordings are kept for 30 days. Parents can ask to see footage.
Each child has two photo cards. We hand a child only to the person holding one. Phone us before sending anyone else.
Two teachers are first-aid trained. Dr Sengupta's clinic is 200 metres away and on call during school hours.
RO water, child-height toilets and basins, cleaned twice a day. Soap, not sanitiser, for small hands.
No stairs for children. Rounded furniture edges, socket covers, gates on both doors, a soft floor under the slide.
All staff have been with us four years or more, with police verification on file. No substitute teachers from outside.
We have never taken more than twenty children in a class, and we do not plan to. A teacher who knows that Rudra skips breakfast and Aarohi is scared of the slide is worth more than a bigger building.
The session starts in April. We take children all year if a seat is free. There is no test for the child and no interview for parents, only a visit.
Tell us your child's date of birth and which class you are thinking of. We will suggest a day to visit.
Come between 10 and 11:30 am with your child. See a class, meet the teacher, sit in the garden. Takes about forty minutes.
A two-page form and the documents listed here. We confirm the seat the same day if one is free.
Short days for the first week, a parent nearby. Most children are happy to stay alone by day four or five.
Our daughter cried for three days and then would not leave at pick-up time. She came home singing Bengali rhymes we had forgotten. She got into Class 1 at her first interview.
What I liked is that the same teachers are there every year. They know my son's tiffin habits and his moods. It feels like a home, not a franchise.
Send us your child's age on WhatsApp and we will fix a visit this week. Bring the little one; the garden is the best part.