NURSERY SCHOOL PLAN

Taranaki Daily News, 10 September 1940, Page 8

NURSERY SCHOOL PLAN

CANTERBURY EXPERIMENTJ OLDER GIRLS BENEFIT

A grant of £50 has been made by the New Education Fellowship to enable a nursery school to be held at the Papanui branch of the Christchurch Technical College in the third term this year, and arrangements are in hand to prepare the necessary equipment. It will be the first time a nursery school has been attempted in a New Zealand city, but an experiment has been tried before in North Canterbury. The annoiincement was made to the technical college board, by the principal of the college, Dr. D. E. Hansen. The school, he said, would be in the charge of Miss D. Dolton, lecturer in child pschology, who supervised the nursery school at Rangiora in 1938-39, and the home science girls would work under . her direction in their general work and in preparing and serving meals. Fenefits to Children. It was hoped, Dr. Hansen said, than parents in the vicinity of the school would respond by. sending their small children to it for a day each week. He had been impressed by the benefit of 'the school at Rangiora to both the small children and to the girls who helped with the work. Parents there had been. enthusiastic about the effects of the school on their children. Mrs. D. M. Opie said that she had seen such schools in operation in England and was very pleased to see that one would be started at Christchurch. In his report to the 'board, Dr. Hansen said that Miss Dolton aimed tomake personal contact with parents to discuss possible difficulties in their children's upbringing, especially in the personality and social attitude of the children. She would give class instruction for several hours each week (in child care) to the home science girls at both schools, and it was proposed that, some of the girla from the main school should see the school in operation at Papanui. "When it was established teachers and others would be invited to visit it. "Ultimately," Dr. Hansen said, "the objective should be to have ^ several nursery schools in every town." , The day's routine would be (reughly):, —Preparation of room and play materials, 9 to 9.30 am.; free - play, 9.30 to 10.15 a.m.; fruit drink, toilet and story time, 10.15 to 10.45 a.m.; free play . with encouragement of handwork, 10.45 to 11.30 a.m.; preparing dinner, 11.30 to 12; dinner, 12 to 12.25 p.m.; rest to 1.30 p.m4 free playv 1-30 to 2.30 p.m.; and cleaning rooms 3 to 3.30 p.m. _ .