Children selecting toys at the Nursery School, Acton, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

Abstract

A photograph of four small children examining a range of toys distributed on shelves and one boy playing with a connecting wagon on the floor. The toys appear to be mostly made of wood and include different coloured blocks, reels, boats, miniature furniture and brick walls. There are also tall cylinders that are presumably toy containers. The room's floor is timber and there is a brick fireplace on the left. The Nursery School building had originally been the isolation block of Canberra Community Hospital, but government funding enabled it to be refurbished along the lines of the Lady Gowrie Child Centres. This was Canberra's first nursery school and it was opened in 1944 by Lady Gowrie. The headmistress was Miss Hinsby. The building was in use as a nursery school until 1952 when it became a primary school.This photograph is from an album that was held at the London office of the Australian National University over the period 1949 to 1952. The album was used to inform prospective staff about Canberra. These images are part of the series produced by the Department of Information and kept at the National Archives of Australia in Canberra. National Archives holdings in this series have gaps and some images may be held only at the ANU Archives. Show more