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30
evening session a week continued at Mayesbrook Clinic to
assist mothers who are working or have very young children
and find it difficult to attend during the day. It is noticeable
that mothers attending in the evening are more relaxed and
easier to treat. Dentures were supplied to mothers whenever it
was considered necessary; these were made at a local dental
laboratory.
Specialist
Clinics
Specialists clinics for orthopaedic, ophthalmic, ear, nose
and throat and speech defects were held and details of attendances
of all children are shown on pages 63—65 and 86.
Our two 50-place Day Nurseries, one in Ley Street and the
other in Goodmayes Lane, have functioned smoothly all the
year, making life more tolerable for parents with diverse problems,
and offering their children care and affection. Young
children are frequently the victims of illness, usually infectious,
and as a result the nurseries are in quarantine from time to
time. This accounts for the average daily take-up of places
being only 31 where 50 could be accommodated.
Five free places are available in each nursery for children
whose attendance is indicated on medical grounds, otherwise
parents are assessed to pay a charge based on their income.
Some children, whose presence at a nursery is part of their
general medical treatment, will benefit most from full-time
attendance, but others may receive enough help from morning
or afternoon attendance only. This appears to be a realistic
way of using five places, and we are now starting to admit
children in the medical category for parts of the day only. 7 or
8 children can thus occupy five "places" and spread the
benefit further.
Many experts in the field of day nursery management would
like to see more "family grouping" introduced. The traditional
day nursery is divided "horizontally" into different age groups,
often occupying separate rooms and sharing nurses among the
groups. Many excellent nurseries are run on these lines even
though they in no way create an ordinary family situation. In
"family grouping" at a nursery, children from two or five are
placed in groups of mixed ages in the care of a nursery nurse.
This nurse is permanently attached to the same group, who eat
together and play together, forming far more warm and significant
relationships than those possible in a room of children
of the same age under the more impersonal care of two or three
nurses. It is really a case of "my family", rather than "the
nursery". Inevitably this substitute mother relationship