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NURSERY CLASSES
After a period in which nursery classes were closed down three reopened for the
Autumn term in 1955 - New City, Carpenters and Tollgate, These classes continued
throughout the year 1956. Children under five are educated in these classes in primary
schools. The classes are run on the same lines as nursery schools but must not admit
any children below the age of three. It has been found that children from two to five
years of age develop best in small communities which have some of the features of a
good home, which provide a simple life where the children can find security and
satisfaction, and where there are opportunities for caring for the children as
individuals. Our aim is to provide an environment and regime which will be instrumental
in raising the condition of these young children nearer the optimum and in reducing to a
minimum the risks involved in bringing them together into groups.
The children are offered a variety of occupations to satisfy their needs and to
develop the skilful use of their hands. Wood and bricks, hammers and nails, painting
and modelling materials, jigsaw puzzles, water and sand are in general use. Children are
encouraged "to talk and their knowledge of words 1b increased by means of stories, songs
and rhymes. They obtain their first introduction to music through movement and musical
games; while in the playground or garden there is apparatus for developtog the physical
skills such as climbing, jumping and balancing. The children obtain as much pleasure and
value out of home made things - trucks, carts, tubs and old tyres, as costly apparatus.
The findings at nursery classes are, as would be expected, similar to those in the nursery
schools.
CONVALESCENT TREATMENT
Children are sent away mainly through the Invalid Children's Aid Association;
sometimes a child is dealt with by the Jewish Board of Guardians. Children are also sent
away for holidays in the summer to private homes through the Children's Country Holiday
Fund. These cases, however, do not come within the convalescent scheme. Most of the
children sent to convalescent homes usually require short-term treatment - generally a stay
of three weeks. These children are generally below par and are classed as debilitated and
needing a change of environment. Some however, have had a recent illness such as influenza,
bronchitis, pneumonia, measles, or are troubled with attacks of upper respiratory catarrh,
and are often recommended by their family doctors for a change of air. Should a child be
so debilitated as to require a longer stay than six weeks, then it must be admitted to a
convalescent home providing educational facilities. Many of the children admitted to
Fyfield in the past come under this category and now that Fyfield is closed it is envisaged
that there will be an increase in long-term convalescent cases.
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