What does it take for a Senior KG child to explain, correctly, how a seed becomes a sprout? Or for a Std. 5 student to explain, without flinching, what a good touch is and what a bad touch is?
We believe both questions deserve the same seriousness. One is about how the world grows. The other is about how a child stays safe in it. Both are things we would rather teach early than assume are understood later on in life.
August held a fair share of these moments — from a classroom experiment to a fair stall that grew into a career. Here is the full recap.
What we sang this Independence Day and why
Independence Day 2026
At 7.30 am on a Saturday morning, before most of Pune had its first cup of chai, our students were already in formation for the march past — marking India’s 80th Independence Day with a flag hoisting ceremony led by Std. 8 and 9. Most parents would have expected it to end there. We added a special performance to the morning and it is the one we are proudest of.
After the National Anthem, our students, along with their parents, sang Jai Jai Maharashtra Majha, the Maharashtra State Song. It is a song many of us grew up singing without ever pausing to ask what the words meant, carried along by the tune long before we understood the history behind it. This year, we decided to share the lyrics and their meaning with parents and children well before the day itself. So this time, when the flag went up, nobody on the ground was clueless. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as the Lion of the Sahyadri was not just a phrase and Delhi was not just a place on the map but the point where Maratha power once reached.
Jai Hind. Jai Maharashtra.
Independence Day performances
Watch your child’s class perform:
Vrukshabandhan: a different kind of rakhi
Raksha Bandhan & Narali Poornima
Every Raksha Bandhan, our children from Baby Walnut tie a rakhi around a tree. No brother, no sister — just a tree that gives shade every day and asks for nothing in return. The children walked up, tied their rakhi and made a quiet promise: we will look after you just the way you look after us.
This is what we call Vrukshabandhan. It was genuinely moving to watch four year olds truly understand what this promise meant.
Meanwhile, our older students celebrated the day with performances about the bond between brothers and sisters. And this year, the week brought one more surprise. Narali Poornima fell on the same day — a coastal tradition where people offer a coconut to the sea to say thank you. Different community, different gesture, same little instinct underneath: someone looked after us, so we looked after them too.
Watch the full videoEvery win counts
Sports this month
A medal takes a few seconds to win. It takes a season, sometimes years, to earn.
That is the story behind most of Walnut’s sporting wins this August. Some students trained on courts and fields as part of their daily sports period — the one part of the school day that never changes. Others carried that training into district, state and national level competitions, often against opponents with more years of practice behind them. This is what led to another month of medals and victories.
More competitions are already lined up across all three campuses and we will keep you posted as results come in. To explore Walnut’s daily sports programme in full: Walnut School Daily Sports
My body, my rules
A lesson every child should hear
In a world where children get more exposure earlier, we need to make sure they also get the right words to make sense of it — especially when it comes to physical touch.
This August, our students from Std. 1 to 5 took part in a good touch bad touch session, conducted by Mr. Pramod Patil from MyBhumi Gram Vikas Sanstha. In simple, age appropriate language, children were taught how to recognise the difference between a touch that is safe and one that is not. More importantly, they were taught that they have every right to say no and to tell a trusted adult if something feels wrong.
We believe this is not a conversation that belongs to school alone. We would encourage you to continue it at home, in whatever words feel natural to your family, so your child hears the same message from more than one voice they trust.
Class of 2026: one last bell
Board results and felicitation
It is the end of the season for the 10th graders of Shivane and Fursungi campuses. With that, here are some of the questions we heard most often during their time here — or when they first took admission.
How does a school with no school bag get students exam ready?
Do they get enough practice time?
How will they study without their books?
The answer remains unchanged because the process has not changed. Differential learning groups from Std. 6 onwards, regrouped after every unit depending on what each child needs to work on. Six rounds of prelims — not just to test but to show students what exactly they need to improve. One on one conversations with the teacher after every prelim to help them understand how to do better.
So when the time comes to give the board exam, they are ready — not just academically but mentally. This year, the Class of 2026 went through exactly that process and came out with a 100% result. Not by coincidence but by dedication, consistency and a schedule built to hold up under pressure.
That is what we mean when we say Walnut prepares a child for the exam long before the exam begins.
It started with a bhel stall
Walnut alumni
Sanskruti Kulkarni had never made bhel before that day. At a Walnut funfair, she decided to try and her stall sold out within the first hour. The sales were nice but what stayed with her was something else entirely: she loved being around food, serving what she made and the process of making it.
Most schools would call that a good afternoon and move on. At Walnut, we watched it become something more. By Std. 8, Sanskruti was already looking into hotel management courses. By Std. 10, she knew exactly which institute she wanted to study at. She chose MCVC, worked through Std. 11 and 12 with that goal in sight, cleared her entrance exams and got into the very institute she had set her heart on years earlier.
Today, she is a third year Hotel Management student, interning at the JW Marriott, Pune.
A stall became an interest. An interest became a plan. A plan became the start of a career. Walnut just gave her exposure to choose. And she chose well.
Sprouts and rainbows
Baby Walnut
Senior KG: how a seed becomes a sapling
Growing up, did you ever have questions about what was happening around you, only to be told you would learn that in time? To understand something as simple as how clouds form, you would have to wait until it appeared in a textbook.
At Walnut, we address that curiosity rather than making a child wait for the right moment. This month, Senior KG had their hands full with a germination activity. They planted a seed, watched it sprout and grow into a small sapling. They watched every stage firsthand and by the end of it could tell you, word for word, how a seed turns into a sapling.
Junior KG: the seven colours hiding in a glass of water
Junior KG witnessed the refraction of light when light passing through a glass of water split into seven colours. They did not know anything about the term refraction but watching how it happens made all the difference.
Yes, they might be too young to spell refraction or name the part of the seed that turns into a sprout. But for now, they know how it happens — and that is how we continue to fuel their curiosity at Walnut.
What to look forward to next month
Festive celebrations kick off with a Dahi Handi party and Ganesh idol making session across campuses.
Online PTM for Baby Walnut parents across all three campuses, to discuss progress made over the unit.
Half prelims for Std. 10 students as they gear up for the board examinations.
None of it was loud. All of it mattered. See you in the next one.
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— Team Walnut
