History: Memories of Betty Greenfield
Betty Greenfield (formerly Sloan) was a Nursery School Teachers College (NSTC) graduate from the 1940s who went on to have a distinguished career. After graduating from the NSTC in 1947 she taught at the Herne Bay Nursery School (today SDN Riverwood). This was in the centre’s early days.
In 1950 she took up the job of Director of John Brotchie Memorial Nursery School at Botany. Betty left us in the 1950s but she returned in the late 1960s to lead the Surry Hills centre. During her absence as well as raising a family she went some way to completing a course in child and infant development.
Upon her return, as well as directing Surry Hills she became our President of Directors and Staff Advisor from 1968-1977. In these roles she gave an account of her work each year for the annual report. Her reports provide great insights into SDN’s evolving culture and practice.
Above are photos taken from Betty's visit to SDN Surry Hills in 2014. Pictured with Betty are Debra Morrison, Stakeholder Relations Coordinator; former SDN Archivist, Lindsay Read, and Communication Manager and former SDN Centre Director, Olivia Liva.
Below are choice snippets from Betty’s reports from this period.
From the 1968 Annual Report:
Meetings [of Directors] were held at fortnightly intervals at the Nursery School Teachers’ College, presided by Miss Joan Fry. Among the subjects discussed were standards in schools and general procedure, aims and objectives of the teacher and the role of the teacher in the Nursery School. We are constantly aware of the necessity of re-studying such vital questions as these and re-considering our approach to the child. The attendance of deaf children in some of our Nursery Schools has created an interesting facet of our work
From the 1969 Annual Report:
The questionnaire on arrival and departure times of children at our centres afforded valuable information on the necessity of providing sufficient trained staff at all times.
From the 1970 Annual Report:
It is pleasing to summarise the subjects considered at the various Directors’ meetings during 1970. A most important discussion on directed occupations for four-year olds eventuated, to which Miss Joan Fry and Miss Adrienne Fountain contributed valuable opinions. At one meeting the problem of undesirable language used by children was discussed; this problem appears to be of a spasmodic nature and nonsense rhymes were suggested as a means to combat it …
… Two outstanding papers were presented at the A.P.A. Seminar in May, one by Miss Fountain – ‘The Enrichment of the Pre-School Years’, and the second by Miss Grace Masselos on home aspects of the cultural and family life of migrants, with particular reference to the child who attends a pre-school centre. Both papers were an excellent contribution to teacher education …
From the 1975 Annual Report:
The staffing situation in January was very difficult. We required five Directors and fifteen teachers. This problem was not resolved until the end of February. In order to enable the schools to function, Mrs C. Richardson, Miss J. Hall and I acted as Directors.
Staff resignations totalled twenty for the year. It was a great joy to offer the schools relief staff during the year, particularly during staff holidays. We endeavoured to place each relief teacher in the schools where they had previously relieved, making it easier for children to adjust.
From the 1976 Annual Report:
We began 1976 with a meeting at Anzac House of all staff members of Day Nurseries and Nursery Schools. This meeting was a stimulating experience as our Guest Speaker, Mr Warren Simmonds (Social Worker) delivered such a forceful and enlightening address, the subject being ‘Caring for children at Risk’. The slides and blackboard diagrams used in conjunction with his address, illustrated dramatically the growing problems of child abuse …
From the 1977 Annual Report:
During 1977 we undertook a variety of surveys, e.g. the number of single fathers requiring our services, the number of handicapped children in our centres, sleep patterns both at home and at school, distances travelled by children to our centres, and an eight-week menu costing. The various results gave us valuable information, e.g. 79 children [are enrolled] with different degrees of disability, and Erskineville Nursery School had children enrolled from twenty-five suburbs.
