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51
It is usual to have on the rolls of each nursery 20 per cent. more children than the
nursery can actually accommodate, as it is found that attendance of young children in nurseries
is low owing to the incidence of minor maladies, infectious conditions and other causes of
irregular attendance. There is a big demand for day nursery accommodation in the borough,
and in actual fact at the end of the year there were some 490 children awaiting admission.
Primarily day nursery provision is intended for the admission of children whose mothers
are working ; during the war in order to meet labour scarcity on account of military service,
and during present peace conditions to meet the urgent need for labour. Day nursery accommodation
must, therefore, be of such a nature as to provide for the care of children during those hours
when their mothers are at work, and must be distinguished from nursery school provision which
is in accord with infant school timetables. When the needs of mothers who are working have
been met, excess provision may be utilised for the care of children whose mothers are lying-in
or sick.
D 2
(7090)