Aboriginal Connections Bush Tucker Education

Thurgoona Preschool (in an outer suburb of Albury NSW) was awarded an IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Environment Grant in 2022, sponsored by Teachers Mutual Bank.

Thurgoona Preschool’s Aboriginal Connections/Bush Tucker Education project creates a space for Aboriginal connections to occur in the natural environment. It educates children, families and staff on the benefits and values of a bush tucker garden and how it can be used to connect to the land within the preschool.

Educational Leader/Teacher Mel Symington said the project had brought community connection, learning and excitement for the children, teachers and families.

The Aboriginal Connections/Bush Tucker Education project involved planting a bush tucker garden with the help of some First Nations families attending the centre.

Children, teachers and educators have been involved in the creation of the garden, caring for the plants and the picking and cooking of the food.

The project also strengthened the preschool’s connection with James Fallon High School.

Students from the Wiradjuri Dance Troupe came to the Thurgoona Twilight Preschool and performed some traditional dances at the garden’s opening.

“It is a great opportunity to connect with our local community and build relationships. This will be an ongoing relationship with the preschool and high school,” Mel said.

“At Thurgoona Preschool we have a yarning circle and chose to place the bush tucker garden alongside this to bring connections and more understanding and meaning.

“The Bush Tucker Garden was a space that we could embed within our programs to educate all the children. They can learn how to cook, prepare meals and learn about history and connect it back to the land,” she said.

“The children have been very much a part of the Bush Tucker Garden from the beginning. They helped prepare the space when we began bringing in all the garden beds and the children were planting and learning about each plant, sharing discussions with the teachers.

“The children have become responsible, learning that we need to water the plants to enable the plants to grow. Many of the children went up to the gardens each day or each week when they arrived at preschool and would check to see how much they are growing.”

Mel said the bush tucker garden is part of the preschool’s Quality Improvement Plan and Reconciliation Action Plan. A gardener researched the types of food that could be planted, including:

• sea celery
• yam daisy
• chocolate lily
• tetragonia tetragonioides (Warrigal spinach)
• bush basil
• enchylaena (ruby saltbush), and
• rare fruit tree.

More traditional herbs, fruits and vegetables were grown alongside the bush tucker garden.

“Our vision was for a space for children, teachers and families to explore and walk through and take time to reflect, make connections and learn about the biodiversity of the land.

“Enabling children to eat the foods they have grown, become active members within the preschool community in caring for the environment and taking responsibilities in maintaining the environment is important in learning new skills of how to care for the plants and working together with their peers and educators.

“We wanted to keep a space that was sustainable but also practical, so it will be an ongoing project that we can refresh for many years to come,” Mel said.