Catalogue description Board of Education and successors: Medical Branch and Special Services Branch: Nursery School, Files

By counties and county boroughs for England and Wales.

Local education authorities were empowered under Section 19 of the Education Act, 1918, re-enacted as Sections 21 and 119 of the Education Act, 1921 to supply, or aid the supply of, nursery schools and classes for children between the ages of two and five years. Regulations for nursery schools (Grant Regulations No 6) were issued in 1919 indicating the conditions under which the Board of Education would recognise such schools for the purposes of grant. A new and simplified set of Regulations for Nursery Schools was issued in 1925 (Grant Regulations No 19).

Several voluntary nursery schools in existence in 1918 were recognised for grant purposes. The gradual increase, however, of nursery school provision was arrested during the ensuing years by recurring financial crises.

Section 8 2b of the Education Act 1944, required authorities to have regard "to the need for securing that provision is made for pupils who have not attained the age of five years by the provision of nursery schools or, where the authority consider the provision of such schools to be inexpedient, by the provision of nursery classes in other schools."