Kindergartens celebrate 90th birthday

From the opening of its first kindergarten in the 1920s, the Hutt City Kindergarten Association has grown substantially over the past 90 years and now operates 19 kindergartens throughout the Hutt Valley.

The association, originally founded by Miss Nettie Riley as ‘The Lower Hutt Kindergarten Association’, celebrated its 90th birthday earlier this month.

Miss Riley was an Australian who came to Wellington to train teachers and establish a kindergarten. Moera Kindergarten was the first to be opened under her leadership in 1928.

Mary Futter grew up on Randwick Crescent in Moera and attended the kindergarten in the early 1930s. This year marks a milestone for both Mary and the kindergarten association, as Mary also turned 90 in August this year.

“I remember that my dad would drop me off on a bike which had a wooden seat for me to sit on,” she says of her time at kindergarten.

“I enjoyed dancing and skipping, playing near the river, making daisy chains, drawing and the concerts where I would dance with my dad. My younger brother Terrance also attended the kindergarten.”

To celebrate the association’s anniversary, a vintage fair day was held at Moera Kindergarten. Families of past, present and future kindergarteners enjoyed market and food stalls, craft activities and face painting, and were entertained by Zappo the Magician.