A year or two before the war, the Y.W.C.A. started a series of discussion groups on the management of small children at home and at school. In 1941, the Canberra Mothercraft Society began to collect a special library of books to help parents and teachers of small children. The interest taken in these developments showed that the community was becoming more and more aware of the need for a system of nursery schools in Canberra.

In 1940, the first practical move had come from the newly-founded Ainslie Infant’s School Mothers’ Club. These mothers made surveys of the number of pre-school children in the immediate vicinity of the school, and suggested to the Department of the Interior and the Department of Health that an empty classroom might will be used for a nursery group. Unfortunately, however, this was not possible.

In 1942, at Miss Heinig’s suggestion, Mrs Minter started as small weekly Play Group in the Griffith Mothercraft Centre. Soon this Play Group was taken over by Miss Combes, who shortly afterwards started the first Nursery School of the Territory in an old weatherboard cottage at Duntroon.

These practical demonstrations encouraged still more interest in the development of children too young for school, and further activity soon followed.

A small group approached the Canberra Mothercraft Society with a proposal for a War-time Day Nursery to serve the children of mothers engaged in war work. In January, 1943, this group set abut making a survey to find out the number of mothers who would be willing to take on a war-time job if adequate care were provided for their children, and how much voluntary help could be relied upon. The group also asked a statistician to marshal their facts.

In April, 1943, this group was able to approach the Department of Health with an impressive table of figures. Although this Department declined to commit itself, it was suggested that the Department of the Interior should be approached as the authority responsible for education in the Territory.

The Civic Administrator was very sympathetic, and soon the Director of Education in New South Wales was being pressed to consider, not a War-Time Nursery, but a true Nursery Kindergarten. From this time onwards, the standards of building, space, equipment. size of groups and staffing laid down for the Lady Gowrie Child Centres were accepted in all plans and negotiations.

By this time, Lady Gowrie herself had heard that a group of young people in Canberra were anxious to have a Nursery School. Interested as always in any pre-school movement, Her Excellency mad known her willingness to help and advise.

NURSERY KINDERGARTEN SOCIETY FORMED
On 7th July, 1943, the Canberra Mothercraft Society called a public meeting, at which the Minister for the Interior took the chair. Lady Gowrie granted her patronage, and brought with her the Principal of the Sydney Kindergarten Training College to address the meeting. At this meeting, a provisional committee was nominated to investigate the possibility of starting a Nursery Kindergarten, and to work out a constitution for a permanent Nursery Kindergarten Society.

By June, 1943, negotiations had already begun for the use of the deserted isolation block of the old hospital, and on 17th August the building was made available by the Minister for the Interior. The community was willing to provide equipment and voluntary help if the Department provided the building and staff.

Negotiations with the Department of Education in New South Wales opened up an interesting field of comparison between the training of teachers in the Free Kindergarten Training College and in the State Teacher’s Training College. A happy agreement was reached: the teacher-in-charge and two of the assistants were to be from the former institution, and two assistants from the latter.

At this preliminary stage, the Principal of the Sydney Kindergarten Training College was consulted about the children’s programme and the adaptation of the building. As public interest was growing rapidly, the provisional committee arranged (through the co-operation of the Canberra University College and Melbourne University Extension Board) for the Field Officer of the Nursery Kindergarten board of Victoria to visit Canberra and give two lectures on child guidance.

On 19th November, 1943, a large and lively public meeting was held to adopt a Constitution and to elect the first permanent Council of the Canberra Nursery Kindergarten Society. At this meeting 146 people joined the Society, which was fortunate in securing an able and energetic president experienced in war-time pre-school organisation in Victoria. The Council had also four trained pre-school teachers amongst its elected members.

Funds were needed, and there was no lack of help for the new Society. Lady Cross lent the gardens of Canberra House for the exhibition of hand-made pottery given to the Society by Mrs Giblin. About 50 pounds was made by the sale of this pottery. Later on, Mrs. Carredus organised a bridge party which was held at Government House by the kind permission of Lady Gowrie, and raised 163 pounds for the Society’s funds.

FIRST – A NURSERY SCHOOL
by December, 1943, the Director (Miss Margaret Hinsby) had arrived in Canberra, and the Chief Inspector of Infant Schools in the Education Department had been consulted on details of organisation and equipment. Work was started on converting the building. The Department of the Interior also generously made itself responsible for providing equipment and maintenance. The building was entirely re-finished. A modern kitchen and washrooms specially adapted for children were fitted up. The play equipment and other furniture both indoors and outside was the best available. Through the energy and sympathetic enthusiasm of all sections of the Department concerned with the work, the outmoded isolation hospital was transformed into an up-to-date Nursery School, which has been admired and often envied by visiting experts.

While the Works Department was busy getting the building and equipment ready, the Nursery Kindergarten Society organised itself into four groups – to sew sheets, towels and feeders, to make a vegetable garden, to establish a library and to furnish a community room which was to house the library.

In April 1944, just nine months after the first public meeting stimulated interest in the project, the Nursery Kindergarten was opened and the first groups of children admitted.

Much voluntary help was needed one the School was in action: On the buses (the Nursery School Special, twice a day); in the kitchen, preparing the mid-morning orange drink, the mid-day dinner, and the afternoon milk and rusk; in the garden, supplying fresh vegetables for eighty dinners a day; and in the library, choosing and obtaining books for teachers; parents and children. The Society and the growing group of parents readily gave the necessary assistance.

As the Nursery Kindergarten became established, a Parents’ and Friends Association was formed in August, 1944. This Association took over the responsibility for the routine help needed at the Acton Nursery School, thus leaving the Society free for further estension (sic) work in the community. The Association holds regular meetings with discussions, talks, demonstrations and films, and has raised funds to buy a sewing -machine and a gramaphone (sic).

There are, of course, many more young children in Canberra than there are places in the Nursery School. After much discussion, a fair method of selection was evolved and has been approved by the Minister for the Interior. A quota system has been worked out on the basis of the number of pre-school children in each district: where the number of applications from any district exceeds the number of places available for children from that district (according to the quota), the final selection of children is made by drawing lots.

THEN – LOCAL PLAY GROUPS
The Minister  for the Interior has always given his most careful and sympathetic attention to the problems of pre-school education in Canberra, and to this end he set up a pre-School Advisory Committee, under the chairmanship of the Civic Administrator, to examine and make recommendations as to the conduct and extension of pre-school work in the Territory. This committee first met at the end of October, 1943, on the occasion of a visit to Canberra by the Inspector of Infant Schools and the new Principal of the Nursery School. The members of the Committee have been selected for their special knowledge in various fields of child care, such as health, mothercraft, nursery kindergarten, primary education, community planning, etc. It is their job to give the lead in the extension of pre-school work, but they have always recommended that experts should be called in before final decisions are made.

For instance, the Advisory Committee recommended that both the Field Officer and the Nursery Kindergarten Board and the Director of the Infant and Maternity Welfare Division, of the Victorian Health Department, should be consulted before plans were made for Play Centre and Occasional Care work in Canberra. The advice of these experts was followed, and a Pre-School Officer (Miss Combes) was appointed by the Department of the Interior to deal with further extension work not covered by the Acton Nursery School.

In districts where there is sufficient local interest the Pre-School Officer will supervise a play centre programme. Work has begun in Reid on the first of these local Play Groups. The Department of the Interior is building a was-block and verandah, and is providing the material for an outdoor play-ground, a large part of which is being erected by the men of the district. Meanwhile, the women volunteers are being instructed in group supervision, and are also attending to the more domestic details (ranging from buying brooms to making dolls) associated with this project. Other districts have already formed enthusiastic Play Group Committees, and hope soon to see work begun on their playground. The whole movement is an interesting experiment in co-operation between citizens and a Government Department.

In December, 1944, the Minister approved a recommendation from the Advisory Committee that scholarships should be given to enable Canberra girls to train as Nursery School teachers. The Department of the Interior has now given two generous three year scholarships to girls attending a training college where they will obtain the Child Development Diploma. The Nursery Kindergarten Society has also undertaken to help a third girl through the same course. It is felt that this action should help to ensure the future supply of Nursery School Teachers for the Territory.

The Nursery Kindergarten Society decided to make an initial gift of 50 pounds towards a library at the Acton Nursery School. The library was to comprise three sections: Teacher Reference, Parent Borrowing and Child Borrowing – and be available to anyone interested in the specialised material.The library is now a part of the general set-up of the Nursery School, and is used by staff, parents, children and the general public. The Society is facing the question of extending its help to initiate libraries in the various centres of pre-school activity and in more accessible locations.

When the National Library offered to supply the adult section of the library at the Nursery School with books on loan, this offer was gratefully accepted. The Society has accordingly been able to concentrate on building up a lending library of children’s books, and will continue regularly to add to its collection. The Society also makes a point of collecting pamphlets on a wide variety of subjects related to pre-school education.

LOOKING FURTHER
The Canberra Nursery Kindergarten Society came into being for the specific purpose of obtaining a Nursery Kindergarten in Canberra. This it has been instrumental in doing, this and a great deal more. The proposal to include on the Council representatives from all pre-school groups in Canberra should enable it to embark on the important task of correlating all pre-school care in the Territory.

The Society has no administrative responsibilities in connection with any pre-school activities, beyond those which it sets for itself from time to time.

It is now necessary for it to set itself further goals, and to adapt its constitution to the changing needs of the community.

References

Belen-Smith, P. (1986).  A brief history of the Society. Canberra Preschool Archives. Available at Woden Heritage Library. Canberra.
Harkness, C. (2007) A brief history of the CPS. Personal document.
Rudduck, L. (1960). Canberra Pre-School Society: A record – 1943-60. Canberra Preschool Archives. Available at Woden Heritage Library. Canberra.