NEWS FOR WOMEN MINISTER OPENS TWO NEW KINDERGARTENS

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27639, 21 April 1955, Page 2

NEWS FOR WOMEN MINISTER OPENS TWO NEW KINDERGARTENS

Mrs G. H. Ross. Minister of Social Welfare, had a busy day in Christchurch yesterday. At 10.30 she performed the official opening of a kindergarten at Burnham, which already has a roll number of 50, and in the afternoon she opened a new kindergarten at Pitcairn crescent, Papanui On both occasions the large attendance of parents and friends showed the interest and goodwill felt towards the kindergartens by members of the community.

At the Burnham ceremony, the president of the kindergarten committee (Sergeant A. S. Hansby) presided, and in welcoming Mrs Ross, thanked her for consenting to open the kindergarten. He explained that the idea of opening a kindergarten at Burnham had been conceived about five years ago, and efforts were made to raise the necessary funds. “But it is during the last six months, through the courtesy of the Department of Health in letting us have a building that had been part of the pensioners’ colony that we really ‘got cracking,’ ” said Sergeant Hansby. He praised the energy and enthusiasm of his committee, of which Mrs Weeds is vicepresident and Corporal E. Anderson is secretary, by whose efforts sufficient money was raised to renovate and adapt the building to the needs of small children, to equip it and bring it up to the standard required by the Education Department. Lieutenant-COlonei F. L. H. Davis, camp commandant at Burnham, emphasised the wisdom, and importance of opening a kindergarten in the district where the population comprised mostly young people with small children.

Mrs Ross said it always gave her great pleasure to open kindergartens, of which there were 27 in and around Christchurch. She congratulated the committee on its initiative and forethought, and hoped the kindergarten would grow and flourish.

Amongst those present at the gathering were Mrs K. B. McCreanor, representing the Christchurch Free Kindergarten Association, and Brigadier J. T. Burrows, commander of the Southern Military District. There are 30 children attending the kindergarten in the mornings and 20 in the afternoon. They are under the care of Miss D. Sandbrook, the director. • Pitcairn Crescent Building The new kindergarten at Pitcairn crescent, opened by Mrs Ross in the

afternoon, is probably the first kindergarten to be built on a section of land reserved for it in a new housing area and it is the second kindergarten to be opened in that district within the last few years. About seven years ago, the Waimairi Kindergarten was opened in Westholme street, but soon it had such a long waiting list of prospective pupils that in 1950, its committee decided that another kindergarten in the adjacent area was required and it was decided to seek a site north of Bligh’s road. A small committee set itself the task of raising the necessary funds and the new building, opened yesterday, is the culmination of five years of earnest endeavour. Forty children are now attending it in the mornings and 30 in the afternoons. The director is Miss Carol Tonkin and her assistant, is Miss L. Alston.

The spacious brick building with its blue facings and restful colour scheme, has built-in blackboards and cupboards and has furniture and equipment suitable for tiny children, who were present in goodly numbers at the opening ceremony yesterday. Mrs F. E. Burrell (president of the Christchurch Free Kindergarten Association) presided and with her were Mrs McCreanor, president of the Kindergarten Committee, Mrs A. Keith Hadfield (patroness of the association), Mrs L. W. McCaskill (immediate past president), and Miss R. Wilkie (principal of the kindergarten training college). “There is no more rewarding work than that for little children,” said Mrs Ross before declaring the kindergarten officially open. She warmly commended the work of women voluntary workers who. throughout the Dominion, laboured unremittingly for the benefit of the young—for kindergartens, the Plunket Society, health camps and other welfare organisations. She complimented the committee on its fine achievement in providing such a fine kindergarten for the district. Mrs McCreanor traced the history of the kindergarten and praised the whole-hearted support given to the project by her hard working committee, to whom congratulations were expressed by Mrs Burrell, Mrs Hadfield and Miss Wilkie.

Members of Mrs McCreanor’s committee are Mr H. Shelton (vice-presi-dent), Mesdames J. Allan, L. Broad, M. Hensley, Whall, C. Bathurst, N. Pirie, C. Pearson, A. Banfield, Freeman. Meates, Sanders, Messrs T. Good and Forsey.