Daffodil Day Jubilee

Press, Volume C, Issue 29625, 22 September 1961, Page 10

Daffodil Day Jubilee

The Christchurch Free Kindergarten Association hopes that its jubilee year will be marked by an especially generous response by the public to the association's efforts to raise funds today. The first kindergarten in Christchurch was opened 50 years ago this month, and the first Daffodil Day appeal was also made in September, 1911. Fifty years of progress is interestingly symbolised by the fact that this year a new kindergarten has been built on the site of the original in Cornwall street. In 50 years the movement in Christchurch has expanded until there aie now 36 kindergartens, and a kindergarten teachers* training college as well. So well-established an organisation needs little commendation to the thousands of Christchurch people who, as pupils or parents of pupils, have had first-hand experience over the years. The worth of kindergartens is expressed by the evergrowing demand for them from parents who have come increasingly to appreciate the value of the kindergarten to the young child taking its first step

from the shelter of the home into the community in which it must live. The movement is an excellent example of how State and voluntary effort can work hand-in-hand. Individual kindergartens are built and maintained by the communities in which they are established; the State pays teachers* salaries and gives subsidies to the first cost of buildings; the Christchurch Free Kindergarten Association trains teachers and adminsters the considerable organisation that 36 kindergartens and 76 full-time employees involve. Though most of the administration

is done by volunteer workers, it naturally involves substantial expense. It is this money, and funds for the training college, that the association is seeking to raise today in its Daffodil Day appeal The public of Christchurch, by a generous response, can show their approval of the centres where children absorb their first lessons; and at the same time express their thanks to a host of volunteer workers who over 50 years have developed and maintained a valuable service at small cost to the taxpayer.