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Hero image for The First Two Years at School

The First Two Years at School

Short Film (Full Length) – 1950

This 1950 documentary about early primary school education was made by pioneering female director Margaret Thomson, who rated it her favourite NZ work. The survey of contemporary educational theory examines the new order in 'infant schooling' (though some things never change, like tadpoles and tidy up time). It is broken into sections: ‘Play in the Infant School’, ‘Doing and Learning’, ‘Learning to Read’, ‘Number Work’ and ‘Living and Learning’. The National Film Unit doco was made for the Department of Education. Douglas Lilburn composed the score.

‘You naughty bad child, how many times have I told you not to do that!’. She’s dramatising something that’s happened in her own life.
– From the narration as a child smacks a doll