The Gordon Institute of TAFE is the
Technical and Further Education
Technical and further education or simply TAFE () is the common name in Australia for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational courses. Colloquially also known ...
institute predominantly servicing the wider
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
area.
The Gordon opened in 1887 and celebrated 130 years of providing education in 2017.
The Gordon provides education to more than 13,500 students annually and, with more than 500 staff members, it is one of the largest employers in Geelong.
[ The Gordon offers over 350 courses across several campuses located in Geelong City, East Geelong, Werribee and Hoppers Crossing.][ Sixty percent (60%) of The Gordon students live in the wider Geelong region.][
]
History
The Gordon Institute of TAFE was opened in 1888 as the Gordon Memorial Technical College.
The college had its beginnings in 1885, when 500 people met at the Geelong City Hall to decide upon a memorial to General Charles George Gordon
Major-general (United Kingdom), Major-General Charles George Gordon Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (28 January 1833 – 26 January 1885), also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, Gordon of Khartoum and General Gordon , was a British ...
, who died at Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan.
Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...
in January 1885. William Humble (owner of the Vulcan Foundry
The Vulcan Foundry Limited was an English locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire (now Merseyside).
History
The Vulcan Foundry opened in 1832, as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches, crossi ...
) and George link (Matthew Flinders
Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then ...
school headmaster
A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school.
Role
While s ...
) decided that a school of art be erected in his honour.
The foundation stone for the first building, Davidson Hall, was laid in July 1887. The land selected for the school was originally part of Johnstone Park, Geelong
Johnstone Park is a landscaped garden in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is bounded by Railway Terrace, Gheringhap Street, Little Malop Street, Fenwick Street, and Mercer Street. The park is surrounded by civic buildings including the Geelon ...
. 16 January 1888 saw the first term commence at the Gordon Memorial Technical College. There were 63 students enrolled, in subjects ranging from mechanical drawing, to architecture, and languages.
In 1890, the two-storey trade engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
and chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
buildings opened on Fenwick Street. April 1891 saw the three-storey administration building open next door. Behind this building a time capsule
A time capsule is a historic treasure trove, cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy ...
was laid. Opened in 1987, it contained copies of Geelong and Melbourne newspapers of the time, as well as reports from the Geelong City Council. The northern Fenwick Street building was added in 1916, and the Hitchcock art studio in 1910.
In November 1921, the college changed its name to the Gordon Institute of Technology. It was also at this time that the Lascelles chemistry laboratory opened on Gordon Avenue, followed by the Bostock lecture hall next door in 1928.
1927 saw the first buildings at the Moorabool Street campus built and, in 1941, the trade workshops were the first college buildings erected on the Latrobe Terrace side of the railway line. The 1960s saw the first of the modern multi-storey buildings built on the site.
In 1969, the Gordon expanded again, with land being purchased on the outskirts of Geelong at Waurn Ponds. A building for the applied sciences was first built, followed in 1975 by a library and student lodgings.
On 1 April 1976, Deakin University
Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...
was established by merging the Gordon Institute of Technology's higher education courses and Waurn Ponds site with the State College of Victoria at Geelong, previously Geelong Teachers' College which had opened in 1950.
References
*Peter Begg (1990). ''Geelong - The First 150 Years''. Globe Press.
External links
The Gordon Institute of TAFEGordon Historic Photo Archive on Flickr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon Institute Of Tafe
Australian tertiary institutions
Australian vocational education and training providers
Universities and colleges established in 1887
Schools in Geelong
1887 establishments in Australia