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for some reason, cannot remain in their own homes during the daytime, or for whom nursery
environment is considered to be beneficial. Ministry of Health circular No. 5/65 dealt
comprehensively with this aspect of child care. The need for the provision of day care is
especially pressing in this borough for a variety of reasons.
Many children are living in overcrowded and substandard homes where little or
no playing space is available for them. There are also many families, especially amongst
immigrants, where the mother and children are unsupported or where financial support is
intermittent and unreliable and the mother must work. There are many children living in
flats, who benefit greatly from daily contact with other children and, lastly, there is the
small group of handicapped children who maybe better able to develop their residual potentialities
under trained supervision in a more favourable environment than in their own homes.
Several types of day accommodation are available for children in this borough.
Accommodation in the Council's day nurseries and in the day nursery provided and run by the
Violet Melchett Infant Welfare Centre, which is grant-aided by the Council on an approved
cost deficiency basis, and to which children are admitted on the same conditions as apply
to the Council's day nurseries, is as follows.—

Demand for nursery places is heavy and children are admitted on a priority basis,
based on the principles set out by the Ministry of Health.
Children of unsupported mothers, or mothers who are ill or about to be confined,
or where the father is a widower, are considered to have the greatest claim. Other children
are admitted where housing conditions are detrimental to their health or on medical recommendation
or when the family income is so low that both parents must work in order to maintain
a reasonable standard of living.
Day nurseries have increasingly been called upon to accommodate children from
"problem families" or children who are disturbed or lacking in a stable and understanding
home background. The Council has continued the practice whereby mentally sub-normal
children who can be looked after in or during day nursery conditions, or deaf children (up
to a maximum of fifteen hours a week) are allowed to attend without charge save for the cost
of a mid-day meal.
Most children in the Council's day nurseries are cared for in groups of mixed
ages consisting of twelve to fourteen children under the constant care of the same nursery
staff.
NURSERY NURSE TRAINING
The National Nursery Examination Board syllabus was revised in 1965 and the
revised syllabus applies to all students who commence training in and after September, 1965.
The period of training is still two years. Students training under these regulations should
have had approved theoretical instruction covering the care of children from birth to seven
years of age, and approved practical training with children of a wide age range within the
overall age range from birth to seven years. Fifteen students will start training on the new
syllabus in the autumn of 1966, and six students already in training will take the examination
based on the old syllabus in July, 1966. There are two approved training nurseries and
approval is being sought for a third to become a training nursery.
OCCASIONAL CRECHES
Total number of sessions - 1,023
Total attendances - 11,788