Pleasance Durack And The Margaret Free Kindergarten And Nursery (1938). Part Two.
This is the second blog post about Pleasance Durack written about her family life and community work, in particular with the Free Kindergarten Movement. Pleasance was President of the committee who managed the kindergarten established in Pier Street, Perth written about in the previous blog post "Kindergarten In Perth... (1911)". The previous blog post titled "Pleasance Durack And Her Garden In Subiaco (1938) Part One" is about Pleasance and her garden at her home in Subiaco.
Pleasance Sarah Durack (nee Rowe) was born in Perth in Western Australia in 1891. She was married to John Peter William Durack, an Australian lawyer and QC in 1922. They lived at the historic Federation Queen house "Strathmore" at 18 Chester Street, Subiaco.
This article is from Trove, the database of the National Library of Australia. No copyright infringement intended.
West Australian, 24 June 1938.
Pioneer Nursery School.
"OUR School" are the words being used with pride by little people of from two to five years of age in Leederville at present to describe the attractive green and cream building into which the rather dilapidated structure once used as council chambers in Oford-street has been converted. Although the building, which is known as the Margaret Free Kindergarten and Nursery School, has not yet been opened the official ceremony will be performed by the Lieut. Governor (Sir James Mitchell) on July 23—a certain number of children have been enrolled and more are hoping that eventually their names will be included on the list of those accepted as pupils.
The Margaret Free Kindergarten and Nursery School will make history in Western Australia as it is the first nursery school to be opened in the State. One of its two large rooms will be devoted entirely to nursery school work and the tiny pupils enrolling (who will be taken from two years of age and, later, perhaps, from 18 months) will be provided with equipment specially selected for nursery school work, will have their own bathroom and wash basins and, in the entrance hall, their own individual lockers marked with distinguishing pictures. In these they will keep their coats and hats, tooth brushes, "feeders" and other odds and ends dear to baby hearts.
In another large room, quite apart from the nursery school, the kindergarten children of four and five years of age will be accommodated with, also, their own equipment and washrooms. A kitchen, staff room and verandahs opening on to pleasant lawns complete the building, which has been financed partly by the City Council and partly by the Charities Commission.
It is interesting to learn that Miss Margaret Evans, who had the privilege of commencing the first nursery school in New South Wales in 1934 after she had completed a special training in Melbourne, will inaugurate Perth's first nursery school also, as the Margaret Kindergarten and Nursery School (whose name, in accidentally, might be regarded as a subtle compliment to her) will be in her charge. She will have as assistant Miss Shirley Solomon with, in addition, two students and several voluntary helpers. Miss Evans was formerly director at Pier-street, where she endeavoured to cater under rather handicapped conditions for children of nursery school age.
The new building at Leederville already has many friends and last Tuesday its enthusiastic committee arranged a kitchen tea for it at the home of Mrs. D. A. Gair in Mount-street.
West Australian. 22 July 1938.
PERTH'S FIRST NURSERY SCHOOL.
Viceregal Opening Arranged for Tomorrow. By "Halsted."
THE past week has been an exciting one for many of Leederville's youngest generation as it has held for them that most eventful day in juvenile life the first day at school of course, the school to which they have been taken, tiny hands gripped firmly in a protective motherly grasp, has not been a school of the ordinary variety; in fact it has been something quite out of the ordinary in that it is Western Australia's first nursery school and kindergarten.
When visited yesterday morning, the Margaret Free Kindergarten and Nursery School was found to be in a state of great activity. Outside a team of men was busily engaged in laying foundations for a fence to be erected around the building while, inside, the director (Miss Margaret Evans) and her assistants were endeavouring to initiate about 30 tiny people ranging in age from 2 & years to four or five into school routine.
With no fence to keep adventurous young spirits within the school boundaries it was also essential that a wary eye be kept open for wanderers. Nevertheless it was remarkable the results that were being achieved, interested groups of youngsters, under the guidance of teachers, already responding enthusiastically to action songs in the nursery school or skipping to music in the larger kindergarten playroom. Others were absorbed in the intricacies of new toys and equipment while a few were using the brand new bathroom and trying to make very sure (as teacher had told them) that they chose their own towels. These hung on hooks marked with the children's names and with a distinguishing picture (such as a flower, a ladder, a hammer, and so on) for each individual.
Similar marks had been placed on each other article used exclusively by one child so that the small boy or girl given a flower or a hammer as his or her symbol would look for this when seeking a coat or a feeder from a locker, a bed for the afternoon rest or a towel or toothbrush in the bathroom. Yesterday, after only one day at school, it was amazing to see tiny tots of four walking up to a towel rack, looking along for a familiar symbol and then taking off a towel with an air of confidence. That they were making no mistakes was obvious to the onlooker for on each child's back was pinned his name, which could be compared with the name accompanying the symbol on the rack.
Slightly home-sick.
Among the 30 children at presept enrolled at the school there was only one yesterday who had not accustomed herself to her unfamiliar surroundings a little girl of some three or four years who clung to the side of one of the assistants who was working in the kitchen. Weeping persistently, her plaintive plea to each passer-by was that she wanted to go home, but soon, as she has been the experience in other kindergartens, her cry will have changed to: "I don't want to go home!" when mother calls to pick her up at the end of the school day.
The entrance to the Margaret Kindergarten and Nursery School is in Oxford street and the visitor first traverses a concrete slab path built by the father of one of the pupils as his contribution to the project. Other fathers have promised to co-operate in the construction of further paths about the building. The entrance hall opens from a semi-circular porch and in it have been placed a number of tiny lockers to accommodate the coats, hats and feeders of the children, each one having his own special compartment. From the hall opens, on the left, a well-equipped kitchen with its gas stove (on which the midday meal for the children will be cooked), sink, table and cupboards, all carried out in the green and cream colour scheme which has been adopted throughout the building. On the right of the hall is a commodious staff room and adjoining store room.
The hall, which is the special entrance for the nursery school children, leads into the nursery school playroom. This is a spacious room already equipped with tiny green tables and chairs, equipment cupboards (unenclosed so that the children can select their material easily), blackboards and shelves on which there were yesterday artistic vases filled with flowers. Along the left and side of the playroom is a wide verandah which admits a maximum of fresh air and sunshine. Here were more tables and a stack of miniature stretcher beds used by the children for their rest from 12.30 until about 2 pm. The verandah is enclosed by a brick guard several feet in height on the top of which flower boxes have already been planted with marigolds.
Off the playroom is the bathroom for the nursery school children with its wash basins and larger basin where children may be completely bathed- if necessary. There are two tiny lavatories attached to the bathroom and these, although only about nine inches from the ground, still require a step for the convenience of the smallest children.
Kindergarten Apart.
From the nursery school playground one may pass into the kindergarten, the main entrance to which, however, is at the; side, completely apart from that used by the nursery school children. The kindergarten playroom also opens on to a verandah and this, in turn, .on to an enclosure which is to be planted with grass and a group of poplar trees to provide privacy. The enclosure will 'be used as an out-of-door work room where tables I will be placed on sunny days. At the end of the verandah are the bathroom and lavatories for the kindergarten children. Along one side of the building is a wide expanse of lawn on which several large Moreton Bay fig trees will provide shady playgrounds for summer. This portion of having his midday rest: one of the children enrolled at the Margaret Free Kindergarten and Nursery School. The ground will be enclosed by a fence and here will be placed some of the larger out-of-door equipment on tan bark. There is an underground store for the housing of portion of this equipment. A four-feet slab concrete path will provide a running ground for children using wheeled toys and bicycles, and flowers and shrubs will be concentrated mainly in the front of the building.
Active Co-operation.
There has been no lack of co-operation in the establishment of this delightful kindergarten and nursery school and even children from the local school have been active in bringing sand for the gardens and in filling up the verandah boxes. Among these a little girl aged seven was overheard to remark last week, as she gazed admiringly at the building: "I do wish I could start my life all over again!" The building, which has been converted from the old council chambers, has been financed by the Perth City Council and the Lotteries Commission and the kindergarten committee (headed by Mrs. J. P. Durack) has been responsible for the furnishing.
Supervising the whole work has been the director (Miss Margaret Evans), who is in charge of both departments of the school under her direction Miss Shirley Solomon, with the assistance of two students, will conduct the kindergarten and Miss Evans herself, with voluntary assistants, will take charge of the nursery school. When enrolments were called for this week 110 children applied for admission, but only 30 have to date been taken as it was felt inadvisable to admit a greater number than this until the school is in good working order. In a few weeks' time the number will be increased to 50 (the increase taking place by small degrees) and eventually there will be 40 children in the kindergarten and 30 in the nursery school. Some parents have taken to placing their six-months' old babies on the waiting list. At present school continues only until 12.30 as it is felt inadvisable to plunge the children into too many new experiences all at once, but later they will remain until about 3 p.m., having a midday lunch and from one to two hours' sleep in the afternoon. The school will be officially opened by His Excellency the Lieut. Governor (Sir James Mitchell) tomorrow afternoon.
