A Team That Knows, Cares and Shows Up

The nominations submitted for Sanctuary Buderim this year told the story of a team that genuinely knows one another.

Birthdays and work anniversaries are remembered. New educators are taken under somebody’s wing. Help arrives on the floor when it is needed. Families become part of the community. Creativity appears everywhere, from herb gardens and sensory experiences to entire learning worlds built from recycled materials.

Across 157 nominations, it became clear that Buderim’s warmth and generosity have been created by the people within it.

Mika began her journey at Buderim while completing her Certificate III as an unpaid trainee.

From the beginning, she has approached learning with openness and enthusiasm. She welcomes feedback, embraces new responsibilities and meets opportunities with a genuine can-do attitude.

In a remarkably short period, Mika has built meaningful relationships with children and has become someone whose happy, caring presence is welcomed throughout the centre.

Her Rising Star recognition celebrates an educator still early in her professional journey, but already building an incredibly strong foundation for what comes next.

Emma leads Buderim’s Nursery with one very clear priority: the children come first.

Her nominations recognised the consistency and attention she gives to babies’ safety, security and wellbeing, particularly during those significant first separations from their families.

Her leadership is active and practical. Emma steps in when needed, guides the educators around her and strongly advocates for children. Her colleagues affectionately describe her as Buderim’s “mama hen”, someone who takes younger educators under her wing and remains deeply invested in the babies in her care.

It is leadership grounded in responsibility, honesty and genuine care.

Across an extraordinary number of nominations, Anne was described as Buderim’s foundation, its glue, its grounding presence and, affectionately, its “work mum”.

She helps maintain the connection between educators and leadership, listens when people need support and steps onto the floor rather than offering advice from a distance.

Her care is both professional and human. She encourages reflection and development, but she also knows when somebody simply needs patience, empathy or a hug.

Almost everyone at Buderim has relied on Anne at some point. What makes her the heart of the centre is not one grand gesture, but the consistency with which she makes the whole community feel supported.

Jamie takes the time to know families, not simply greet them.

Children seek Jamie out because she understands their personalities, strengths, interests and needs. Families experience that same warmth through open communication and a genuinely approachable presence.

Perhaps one detail captures those relationships better than any formal description could: Jamie is regularly invited to children’s birthday celebrations and makes time to attend outside of work.

That connection cannot be manufactured. It comes from children and families knowing that someone is genuinely invested in their lives.

Melissa was repeatedly described as one of the warmest and most caring people her colleagues have had the privilege of working alongside.

Children naturally gather around her. One nomination painted the wonderful picture of Melissa creating art, teaching yoga or bird spotting with eight toddlers sprawled across her and several more tiny companions in tow.

Her practice combines creativity, curiosity, nature and sustainable resources, while her positivity can transform the atmosphere of a room. Families trust her open communication and colleagues know she will offer support no matter how much she already has happening.

Her impact is found in countless everyday interactions through which children feel loved, families feel secure and colleagues feel supported.

Congratulations also to Laura Cope, Coffee Order Memory Award; Joselaine “Josi” Lopes de Ramos, Glitter Wrangler; Chrissybelle Ann Capis, Human Snooze Button; Richard “Richie” Hughes, Lunchbox Whisperer; Kristel Urbanski, MacGyver; Thalia Oliveira Ribeiro, Most Likely to Be Found on the Floor; Brie Vink, Nature Explorer; and Kristine Watson, Walking Wikipedia.

This year’s 157 nominations represented 157 moments when someone paused and decided another person’s contribution deserved to be recognised.

You are what makes Sanctuary Buderim, Sanctuary.

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