MANDY SMITH
The woman who helped found several Hawke's Bay kindergartens half a century ago returned for a look last week.
The oldest member of the New Zealand Kindergartens, Ellen Stevenson, 94, visited Flaxmere's Ellen Stevenson kindergarten.
The name recognises Ms Stevenson's work fundraising and overseeing the building of seven kindergartens during her
time on the federation's executive board.
"When I joined the kindergarten association in 1943, we didn't have any formal kindergartens - teachers worked out of any hall they could find," the Hastings woman said.
The government paid for two thirds of the cost of setting up kindergartens and the community had to raise funds the rest with cake sales and market days.
First came Central Kindergarten, followed by Mahora, Parkvale, Mayfair, Raurika, Peterhead and Irongate.
Teachers, who were fully trained, were paid 4 pounds a week and aided by mothers who had far more time to volunteer back then, she said.
Ms Stevenson joined the association in 1943. She was elected to the executive board in 1956 and served 10 years but never learnt the first name of any of her peers.
"It was just Mrs so-and-so back then. You didn't dare break with protocol."
In 1965, she was made a lifetime member of the association. The nature of childcare had changed over the years, she said.
It used to be as much about the mothers' club on a Tuesday night as the children, but now parents tended to just drop off their kids.
The cost of care was considerably cheaper then, despite today's heavy government subsidies.
Asked her view of the playcentre vs kindergarten debate, Ms Stevenson's answer was clear: "I think kindergartens are superior. They are more controlled than playcentres, there's a focus on learning and all the teachers are fully trained.
"You can always tell a kindergarten child when they start at school because they have no trouble fitting in." Her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, who all attended kindy, can attest to that.
