Turawan was the Collingwood Technical School magazine. It began in 1960 and was produced several times a year.
Turawan contained articles from staff and students at Collingwood Technical School. It reported on school news, sports, excursions and activities and encouraged a strong connection between the school and industry via advertising services, apprenticeships and awards. In a 1960 edition, a full page spot states: ‘To stimulate ambition among trainees in the shoe industry, The The British United Shoe Machinery Company of Australia Proprietary Limited, deems it an honour to award the lead shoe-making apprentice each year, The "BUSMC Award of Merit'. The Award has become a highly sought after prize and has been founded to reward the achievements of student Craftsmen. The British United Shoe Machinery Company, Directors and staff, congratulate the Collingwood Technical School on the completion of another successful year in the training of young men in the industry.’
The magazine was named after a dreamtime story drawn from the Cammeraygal tribe, the traditional owners of the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ’Long ago an eaglehawk, Mullion, had his nest in a large tree. The eaglehawk would swoop down from the tree, catch a person and fly off with him. This continued for years and the people couldn’t do anything about it because the tree was unbelievably large. In despair the tribe called together the wise men, Murriwunda and Koomba, to assist them. They decided that if they could climb the tree carrying a piece of burning wood with them, then they could set the nest on fire. They tried but failed – and then decided to enlist the help of their feathered friends the Turawan. The Turawan divided themselves into two groups; one carried firesticks in their beaks while the other fought an aerial battle with the Mullion. Thus the nest was burned and the tree destroyed. Who are the Turawan? They are the grey Magpies of Australia, and even today they will swoop down on their enemies and drive them off using their powerful wings and terrible beaks (Turawan, 1967).’