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foregoing dates, when enemy activity was at its height, there
were only three days, exclusive of Saturdays, when the attendance
was under 20 children. It was 17 and 19 for those days.
The enjoyment of the children during the summer was
considerably curtailed by the frequent necessity of going into
the shelter and sleeping them there. They lost many hours fresh
air and sunlight, but this lack did not result in ill-health during
the winter as might have been expected.
During the summer and autumn the nursery had a few
cases of whooping cough. They were spread over a long period,
beginning in June and ending mid-November. This was the
only infectious disease of the year.
At the present time the Nursery is running to capacity with
a growing waiting list which dates from September, consisting
of 7 children under 2 years and 11 over 2 years.
Draycott Nursery.—The Matron reports as follows:—At
the beginning of the year 1944 there were 45 children on the
books, and by the end of March numbers had increased to full
capacity—60. Apart from absences due to colds and influenza
during the winter months, attendances were good until the
beginning of June when we had epidemics of measles, German
measles and whooping cough. The fly-bomb campaign began
mid-June, and two-thirds of our children were evacuated with
their mothers. Until the end of August, Nursery routine was
carried on in the shelters with brief intervals between the sirens
when the children were able to play in the garden. They
quickly learnt their air-raid drill and were never frightened at
any time. It was found that a gramophone playing records of
nursery rhymes drowned the less pleasant sounds outside.
In August one of the students took her Nursery Nurses
Diploma, obtaining distinctions, and another student was successful
in November.
The sand-pit was constructed during the autumn, to the
great delight of the children, and will be a popular feature
during the coming season.
The Deputv Matron, Mrs. E. M. Hood, resigned in October
to take a further course of study, and she was succeeded bv
Miss I. Rogers, one of our Nursery Nurses. In spite of t e
interruptions in our normal routine throughout the summer,
the work in the Nursery made good progress. The children
have made good all-round progress, physically, mentally an
socially.