Tugulawa Early Education

Recently, volcanoes have been a shared interest among many of the Possums, with volcanoes being built inside and outside throughout the weeks.

We dove into this interest by exploring what volcanoes are and how they are different from mountains. We discovered that melted rock has different names depending on where it is. When it is deep under the ground, it is called magma. When it pushes up and comes out of a volcano, it becomes lava. The Possums enjoyed learning this new vocabulary and using the words in their discussions.

We also found out that not all volcanoes look like tall mountains. Some can be shaped like hills, and some are more like large openings that go down into the Earth.

Many of the Possums were surprised to learn that Australia once had active volcanoes a very long time ago. This led to a conversation about the different types of volcanoes:

- An active volcano is one that can still erupt.
- A dormant volcano is one that has not erupted for a long time but might erupt again.
- An extinct volcano is one that is not expected to erupt again, like many of the ancient volcanoes found throughout Australia.

We learned that while Australia does not currently have any active volcanoes on the mainland, some of our neighbouring countries, including New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, do have active volcanoes.

This sparked our curiosity about where Australia's volcanoes are. We then discovered that the Glass House Mountains are the remains of ancient volcanoes and are located only about an hour's drive from Tugulawa.

In the Dreaming time story, the mountains were once a family—Tibrogargan the father, Beerwah the mother, and their son Coonowrin. When a great flood was coming, Coonowrin became frightened and ran away instead of helping his family, and afterwards they were all turned to stone, becoming the mountains we see today, with Tibrogargan facing Coonowrin who turns away.

Through this experience, the Possums explored an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective of the Glass House Mountains, learning that places can be understood in different ways through both science and story, and that these stories share important messages about caring for others and connection to the land.

Callum - Possum teaching team

The Kubbis love their craft and therefore go through a lot of paper which ends up in our recycling box. The children know paper is supposed to go in the recycling box but upon reflection, educators asked 'do the children know why'?

When we asked the children why we put paper in the recycling box instead of the bin, children made comments like "because food goes into the bin" or "because the paper will get yucky with the food".

We used a storyboard to briefly explain that when we recycle paper, a big truck takes it somewhere to get blended into paper pulp and then put through a machine to turn into more paper we can use again. This stops us from cutting down trees to use for paper, letting animals use trees for house and food.

To solidify this understanding, the children made their own paper today. They helped tear paper and use egg be**ers and whisks to turn the paper to a pulp. Once they mastered the skill, I noticed some children showing other children how to use the egg be**er. At first some children were not convinced it would work but once they saw other children persist and see the paper's texture start to change, that encouraged them to try again. Using the egg be**er to blend the paper is a physically demanding task that takes time and several of our Possums stayed at the station for two hours mixing the paper. This shows concentration and determination...a flow state.

Later, we used a paper making kit to shape the paper pulp we created. The children helped squeeze the water out of the paper using a towel and watched the paper take shape.

Stefan - Possum (Kubbi) Lead Educator

We had a wildly creative day in the Wombat room today : the children continued designing outfits for the mannequins, working with the wild animal prints which we explored yesterday in the context of patterns in nature. Dottie, our mannequin certainly had a glowup!

We began the designing by drawing different options for sleeves with the children, explaining that clothes designers usually draw their ideas first. The tight sleeves were the most popular option. Jessie and Jade supported the children to think purposefully about where they were placing the materials e.g. one of our learners felt that the giraffe print should go on the bottom and the zebra print on the top- and I agree, it looks fabulous!

Whilst working with the materials, Sophie (our student teacher) independently created an animal print crown, initiating a new fashion trend.

Maryanne - Kindergarten teacher

So this happened just over a week ago.... we are very humbled by the recognition. It was amazing to sit and listen to the other award recipients and hear about just how incredible their efforts are all in the name of making our community a better place for all.

A beautiful night tonight - my Bulimba Electorate Queensland Day Awards.

Acknowledging some of the amazing people in our community, who every single day, make a difference.

Everyone present walked away feeling so inspired.

I’ll do a series of posts over the next day, so you can hear the beautiful stories.

But tonight I acknowledge the 2 finalists in the Group Category.

- Karen Broomfield and Lauren Alexander.

Their nominations are actually too extensive to fit into one post! 🩷🩷

But it begins this way, and you can see the rest at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2026QLDDAYGROUPS

“Lauren and Karen are co-directors and together they lead with genuine care and have supported our team and community through devastating sadness and lows recently. Karen and Lauren are the heart of Tugulawa community in Bulimba. They truly embody what it means to be a good person and are incredibly deserving of this award.”


Renee Coffey MP Councillor Lucy Collier

Our Wombat Kindergarten group wandered down Oxford Street today, gathering smiles where ever we went. We relived past meals of burgers and sushi, buying bread from Brumby's and the shop where you get glasses if your "eyes don't work properly".

Our destination was the Bulimba Community Centre where we gathered in their shady yarning circle and shared the Sea of Hearts we have made from recycling our milk bottles with their beautiful volunteers.

Kate and her team allowed us to 'plant' our hearts in their gardens and we hope that this National Reconciliation Week this reminds us all that "reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds, and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples". Reconciliation Australia Connecting the Dots through Culture

We then were able to view their fruit and vegetable gardens, plant some spring onions, view the colourful chillies (no touching though!!), observe their native bee hive, understand the composting bins and participate in feeding their worm farm - never have those worms had such carefully ripped up newspapers. We then were able to visit the burgeoning lemon trees picking one each, and a couple of navel oranges and the first mandarin of the season too! A plan was formed to make lemonade this afternoon to have with our afternoon tea....

From there we bade our new friends from the Bulimba Community Centre farewell and we walked to the new and improved Memorial Park. The park had a lot for us to explore and some new challenges that our Kindy children were up to.

Physically tired and loaded up with a big bag of fresh fruit, we made our way back up the hill to our home at Tugulawa.

Today has been a wonderful start to the week. The Possum teaching team invited the children to lead the way and explore their new classroom resources. Last week the Possum class were introduced to the lightbox which is a fabulous resource. Lightboxes are a very adaptable teaching tool which can be used for many open-ended play experiences.

The Possum team have utilised the lightbox to create an inviting investigation station for our current snow pea project. Today Callum sourced a variety of leaves for the children to compare to the smaller ones on our snow pea sprouts. This captivated the Kubbis attention, with the "love heart" leaves being a notable favourite. Groups formed around the lightbox and became an observation hub.

Mel - Lead Educator Possums

A perfect likeness....worms and all.

KB

As part of National Reconciliation Week, the Wombat Kindy group learnt about Pryce Mara, a young First Nations designer from Bamaga who designed the 2026 North Queensland Cowboys Indigenous jersey. The children were fascinated to discover that someone not too much older than themselves began sharing his ideas through art and design, and that his artwork could be used to tell stories about culture, family, community and Country. This sparked rich conversations about how designs can communicate meaning and identity. The learning connected beautifully with the children's ongoing interest in fashion design, drawing and creating.

Jacinda - Kindergarten teacher

National Reconciliation Week, capturing the thoughts of the children.

"we listen, we share, we say sorry when we need to make things better, we work together, give a helping hand, say sorry if you make someone feel sad".