The Happy Years (c.1958)
Synopsis
This short film, shot in black-and-white, promotes the operations of the School Medical Service within NSW state schools in the 1950s. The film describes how the service aims to provide a holistic approach to child health, covering physical and mental health and any problems that may affect a student’s ability to learn.
Curator’s notes
As an informational film, The Happy Years shows the processes and procedures involved in conducting this medical service for students. This includes specialist examinations and therapy for children suffering from loss of hearing and vision, speech impediments or behaviour problems.
The Happy Years describes an example of a very good school-based child health program. It emphasises the importance of parental involvement to ensure the best health of the child. Another example of a 1950s government program involving school visits is presented in Commonwealth Bank – The School Bank (1951).
The Happy Years is also notable for showing a mono-cultural student population. The increase in the cultural diversity of students in NSW state schools over the past 50 years highlights one of the greatest changes in the state.
The New South Wales Department of Health sponsored a number of films in the 1940s and ’50s that highlighted health and safety issues of the day. The department screened these films at community meetings in suburban Sydney and rural NSW and also in local cinemas to mark Health Week.
The Happy Years was made by Artransa Park Film Studios, one of only a handful of film studios with sound stages in Sydney in the 1950s and ’60s.
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