When Dorothy Scott was 15 years old, an announcement was made over the loud speaker at her school, calling for volunteers at Allambie Reception Centre in Burwood. This changed the future course of her life.

“This was the place to which all children who were being brought into care, by women police- we’re talking the 1960s, and there they remained until their cases were heard in the children’s court,” said Dorothy.

Dorothy quickly got to know a group of girls who were not much younger than her at Allambie. She helped them with their literacy. It quickly dawned on Dorothy that this experience meant more than teaching a specific subject. There were too many other things impacting the children.

“I was very moved and appalled by the conditions of the children and it was at that time that I made the decision to do what I could in my lifetime to prevent children coming into a place like that.”

Dorothy describes the setting as overcrowded and rigid. She said there was trauma.

“We wouldn’t have used that word then, but it was the trauma of children and their insecurity. They were given safety but they weren’t given security because of the great uncertainty in their lives.”

When Dorothy finished school she worked as a childcare worker and a specific memory stands out to her:

“I remember sitting in the sandpit with children aged three and four who were immobilised, who did not know how to play, who were frozen and now we would probably say, were deeply traumatised having experienced abuse or neglect, having very recently been removed from their families and now being in this large institution with a high turnover of children because children came and children went, and many different staff.”

“I remember teaching a little girl in the sandpit to hold her hands like a cup and then I would let the sand in my hands fall through to her and then I would put my hands as a cup underneath hers and ask her to give me the sand and I think at that moment I saw the significance of play. The wider experience of being there was what led me to do social work at the University of Melbourne in the 1970s to pursue that mission of doing what I could to prevent children coming into care of the state.”

Dorothy and her colleagues at the Queen Victoria Hospital developed the first sexual assault counselling service in Victoria in the mid 1970s and her zeal to make positive change has prevailed. She has continued to make contributions to State and Commonwealth Governments, conducting several child protection inquiries.

A child’s right to play, to feel safe to play, is part of Dorothy’s philosophy. She likes the African proverb it takes a village to raise a child because she said it makes her think about what it takes to build a village.

“What does it take to build a village and in our contemporary society what might it take to rebuild the village- where the village, where the sense of community, the social cohesion, sense of belonging that can connect us to one another has actually been diminished- by long commutes, by very busy families where everyone is working and by the increasing social isolation that we often experience in today’s world despite our connectedness in an electronic sense.”

Dorothy has thought long and hard about local communities and villages in her work and life over the years. She is author of five books and many refereed articles. She is a senior scholar and Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne. Upon meeting her, her zeal, her perpetual curiosity and hankering to do and improve, often, uncomfortable aspects of early childhood, commands attention. Despite her small frame, when Dorothy speaks, she has a great presence and that rare ability to quieten a room.

She identifies areas of society that have for one reason or another been neglected or unfairly done by, and gives them her attention, drawing people in with the stories and enriching portions of evidence that strengthen the uncertainties.

Dorothy is the Playgroup Victoria Patron and understands the power of playgroup to build up, repair and reinvigorate our villages. 

“What’s special about playgroups is that they are there for everybody. You don’t have to be a client of a service. There’s no eligibility criteria other than that you have a child in the appropriate age range so they are open, there’s no stigma.”

“There are a couple of other groups that are similar- ante natal classes and first time parent groups that maternal and child health nurses facilitate for the first eight or so sessions and which may then evolve to self sustaining networks and indeed become playgroups but playgroups are special because they have the word play at the centre and I think that brings a certain joy and they are highly natural.”

Dorothy met her best friend at playgroup. Both of their children were born in 1981. Only a few weeks ago she celebrated her friend’s 60th birthday.

Dorothy said that the testament of a friendship is not necessarily about the longevity but it might be that it is really important for a certain period of time.

“It isn’t only that deep and long-lasting relationships can be forged through playgroups, I think the fact that people are going through a similar transition in life does give people a common bond.”

The naturalness that playgroups open up is something that keeps it grounded in the roots of society.

“It’s a bit like the village well of days gone by where people can come together in a naturalistic way and develop a feeling of belonging and enjoy interaction with one another and to experience the joy of children which is a great source of inspiration and happiness,” said Dorothy.

The part of playgroup that Dorothy is particularly fond of speaks to her primary instinct to help families at a relational level.

“For some families, particularly those who have a very high level of situational stress and who may be living in poverty, this may be a life saver- or for a more affluent family where the mother may be suffering from post natal depression or feeling a loss of identity from what she had when she was in paid employment.”

“It is giving people an opportunity to know each other in a new way and forge friendships that might last a lifetime.”

There are many layers to our lives and Dorothy has waded into the more treacherous waters in a bid to bring strugglers to shore. In little ways, getting back to play, community and our villages, helps those who might be at high risk, or those gliding like a duck of the surface, but whose legs are working hard just beneath, out of our sight.

From a young age Dorothy recognised a child’s right for safety, for connection, to play. Over time she has looked at ways to improve the wider circle of a child’s world. Playgroup has a role. Our villages have a role. Face to face communication is vital and so is empathy.

“I think playgroups have a very special place, in connecting families with young children into a community.”

Article by Sinead Halliday