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207
children. There is also a School Athletic Association, the members
of which devote a great deal of their spare time to assisting the
children's athletics and conduct a well-organised annual athletic
sports meeting. Again there is an energetic School Swimming
Association which is responsible for much voluntary work for the
children's swimming and holds capably managed and stimulating
annual galas. In addition to the general athletic meeting and
galas, several schools conduct their own annual athletic meetings
and swimming galas.
In conjunction with the adjoining Borough of Walthamstow
a branch of the English Folk Dance Society is maintained and is
doing good work.
NURSERY CLASSES.
Board of Education Circular 1444 (January, 1936).
This official Circular states that in normal circumstances
children under five years of age benefit more from being in their
home surroundings, under parental care, than in school. There are,
however, many young children whose mothers, through no fault
of their own, are unable to give them at home the care and attention
which they need. In certain cases the greater attention which
can be given to the physical as well as to the mental requirements
of a child who may be delicate, or whose mother is preoccupied by
the care of a large family or the necessity of going out to work,
fully justifies the admission of the child to school instead of keeping
it at home. In other cases, for example where there is only one
child in the family, educational benefit will be derived from the
companionship of other children and the more varied activities
and training which are possible in a Nursery School or in the
infants' department of an Elementary School.
At present the extent to which children under five are admitted
to a Nursery School or to the infants' department of an Elementary
School varies widely from one area to another, and often appears
to depend as much on local practice and tradition as on the needs
of the children. The Board are anxious, therefore, that all Authorities,
and particularly those Authorities in whose areas few such
facilities at present exist, should survey the local needs and consider
how far they call for expansion and improvement, whether in
Nursery Schools or in Elementary Schools. In either case, it
is of the first importance that simplicity should characterise both
the planning and equipment of the premises and their maintenance;