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CLEANSING STATION.
As will be seen from the appended table, 1,222 attendances
were made at the Cleansing Station. This figure compares with
1,625 attendances in 1944.
Number of cases of Scabies treated 445
Cases of Scabies with concurrent verminous head 7
Cases of Scabies with Secondary Septic Skin
condition 42
Number of cases of Verminous heads only 54
Total number of attendances at the Centre 1,222
DAY NUKSERIES.
1945 was the first year that many of the wartime nurseries
were run without the interruptions occasioned by the wailing
of the sirens and the need for getting the babies under cover.
While grateful for this relief, in some other ways conditions
had become even more difficult, particularly with regard to
staff. The teacher or warden, that pivotal member of the staff
on whcse presence the activities of the 2—5'ti so largely
depends, disappeared from many nurseries and there has been
no possibility of filling the gap. When many of us started to
run day nurseries we regarded the teacher as something of a
luxury rather than a necessity. I do not suppose any of us
have any doubt on this point now. Without a teacher the value
of a nursery sadly deteriorates and there is a risk of it becoming
a mere parking place for children. In considering the
question of the continuation of day nurseries there is no doubt
that many were influenced by the inevitable deterioration of
the standard in the nurseries by this loss of the teachers that
has occurred through normal wastage and the inability to
obtain fresh recruits. It is a powerful argument for the present
need of provision of accommodation for children that so many
supported the continuation of the nurseries in such circumstances.
If so many of our day nurseries are compelled to continue
without a teacher the nursery function needs reconsideration.
If one is not prepared to advocate allowances sufficient to
obviate the need of certain classes of mother, such as the
widow, from working, one cannot deny that nurseries must be
provided for these mothers but. without a trained educationist,
some modification of the claims that there ,are overpowering
advantages in the nursery environment will have to be made.
In the past when comparisons have been made between the
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