A DESERVING INSTITUTION

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2991, 31 January 1917, Page 6

A DESERVING INSTITUTION

RICHMOND FREE KINDERGARTEN The work of the Richmond ftee Kin-' der»arten Union has hitherto been hampered in the central and poorest districts of Wellington by the unnsuitabihty ot the only premises that it has teen possible to obtain. The committee taw bought a piece o£ land adjacent to. laranalS Street, and proposes to have erected thereon r. building specia ly suited for kindergarten work. The land mil cat .£7OO, and has to be E»id tor within Svo months. The. cost of the bmldwg has not yet been estimated but it probably will require from XlaUO to .«SOO to erelt and furnish. Towards these eume the committee has the sum of £200, ami proposes to seek donations from the. Pl The'Kindergarten Union is, within its; limited means, carrying out in an excellent manner the preliminary training ot children'at their most impressionable age a work of the utmost importance as a preliminary to the instruction to be subsequently given in the infant departments of the State Schools. It also is, in the course of such instruction, training, under a. competent director, teachers for- kindergarten duties who are and will be available 'for farther extensions o£ this most desirable work—work which, hitherto has been scarcely touched upon in the ordinary schools controlled through the Education Department. The work done is quite non-sectarian, and ought, under a complete system of State education, to be undertaken, entirely by the State; in the absence of such a complete system the Kindergarten Union is partially filling tie gap-largely by the aid of personal subscriptions from individuals interested in educational matters and in the welfare of the younger children resident in the more crowded districts of the city. Material assistance is also rendered by the capitation allowance granted by the Government and by other donations. It is felt that there are may who would gladly contribute to such a worthy cause, and the need being pressing—at least £5W> is required by first week in March—it is loped that the response will be both prompt and liberal. ■ Any sum from a shilling to a thousand pounds w.ill be gladly received by Miss England, 125 Molesworth Street, or Mrs. T. H. Gill, 71 Ellice Street, and as the whole of the finances are in the hands of a committee of prominent citizens, the .-utmost confidence can be felt by intending contributors. Not only will the prospective edi-, fice be a, great improvement to the neighbourhood and an addition to Wellington's public buildings, butjt will make possible the spread of ejjljljifcf among , those who otherwise i y^^^P^ cr * rom their environment ardg||p!rßecessitou6 circumstances of ty>4& for their training. /jjjjl .