The Gordon grew out of the need for technical training in the brave new world of the 1800s industrial age. From its origins as a mechanics institute and a night school for tradespeople, The Gordon has become the embodiment of quality vocational education and training in Geelong and beyond.
During the late 1800s, Geelong's increasing importance as an industrial centre, along with a worrying overseas trend showing Britain was losing its traditional markets to the United States and Europe, spurred leading Geelong citizens to campaign for greater technical training. However, it was another overseas event that hastened The Gordon's development. The heroic exploits of British general Charles Gordon had captured Geelong's imagination. His death during the siege of Khartoum in Africa prompted calls for a memorial. One proposal, backed by a military battalion brass band, suggested a statue but others wanted something more meaningful. What better memorial could there be, it was said, for a man whose life was devoted to civic duty and, especially, to the education of the disadvantaged, than a vocational institute?
Since opening in 1887, in a single-storied hall and operating mainly night classes for tradespeople, The Gordon has developed into an institution operating across four campuses. In 2017 The Gordon celebrated 130 years of its proud history of leading education in the Geelong region.
The Gordon opened for business in 1887 in an unpretentious single-storied hall (now the Davidson Restaurant) used for lectures and exhibitions. Classroom and office space was added a year later with the building of the first of the Fenwick Street towers. A chemistry lab (now the Koori Unit) followed in 1889 and a two-storey trade shop (now the theatre) in 1890.
The centrepiece of the Fenwick Street facade was built in 1892 but the third and balancing stage, housing electrical and physics labs and architectural drafting rooms, wasn't completed until 1916. This didn't mean building had stopped. Art studios, named after former director George Hitchcock, were erected in 1910 and a (now-demolished) 1914 machine shop indicate the ever-increasing number of available courses. The post-World War I period was something of a building boom at The Gordon. Public subscription paid for the 1921 Lascelles Memorial Chemistry Building to commemorate the father of Geelong's wool trade. The Lascelles style continued in the 1928 Bostock Memorial, which comprised a lecture theatre and memorial hall, now The Gordon Gallery and executive offices.
Demand for placements in the Wool Classing course, introduced in 1891, led to further expansion. The wool sorting room was enlarged, though it was dwarfed by the Percy Everett designed 1930s Wool School and Everett's modernistic Textile College facing Gordon Avenue, which was built in 1949.By this period, The Gordon had built on all the available space on the Fenwick Street site. It was time to go west.
Although new trade workshops on the corner of Gordon Avenue and LaTrobe Terrace were built in 1941, The Gordon wasn't able to purchase the surrounding land immediately. The 1927-built Moorabool Street campus and the Spring Street annexe provided some relief but the main campus still needed more classroom and workshop space. Building began on the LaTrobe Terrace side of the city campus in the 1960s with an engineering diploma block taking priority, followed by a humanities building, but eventually expansion outside the city centre became necessary.
Land was purchased at Waurn Ponds in 1969 and the first building, the Applied Sciences block, was constructed in record time. A library and student lodgings followed in 1975. Planned but not eventuating was a new Textile College: by the mid-1970s The Gordon was again changing Geelong education. By 1976, rumours of another Victorian university had become a reality for Geelong. The new university, named after Australia's first Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin, would be located at The Gordon's Waurn Ponds campus.
This meant a new role for The Gordon, focussing on its position as Geelong's premier technical and vocational education provider. As well as redeveloping its city campus during the 1970-80s, The Gordon expanded to new locations. A 96-bed student residence opened in 1978 and temporary trade campuses in Spring Street and Rutland Street were closed and relocated to the Moorabool Street campus and to a new campus in Boundary Road. Today The Gordon continues its building expansion with new buildings tailored to the courses they hold. Major redevelopments and extensive refurbishments have recently been completed at the Geelong City Campus providing state-of-the-art learning facilities and improved recreational areas for students.
In 2012 the $6 million purpose-built GTEC facility at our East Geelong Campus was completed, ensuring the best possible education experience for all Gordon students. In 2018 The Gordon will host the Geelong Tech School in a new building at the Geelong City Campus. The Geelong Tech School will focus on STEM skills needed for the jobs of the future, including thinking critically, communicating clearly, working collaboratively and embracing technology.
From its earliest days, The Gordon's sports and social activities have provided welcome relief from studying, and much entertainment for students and staff.
The earliest formal event was the 1905 Annual Student Dinner held in the Davidson Hall but more popular was the long-running Annual Ball. A lack of money didn't stop students from having a good time; in the 1930s, students not only brought their own supper to the ball but often their own crockery as well. The Annual Ball moved to the newly built Wool School in 1947 when the suggestion that its greater size and highly waxed floors were more suited to dancing was enthusiastically accepted.
By 1964, the ball had again outgrown its premises and the Palais Theatre in Moorabool Street became the new venue. Aside from the safety aspect of the number of people at the ball, there was also concern about the effects that the vibrations caused by the Mexican Hat Dance had on the building. The 1965 ball was notable for the dry comment in The Gordon Council minutes that the event was well-organised, though the noise level was not for those with sensitive hearing.
The 1950s and 60s, in particular, were renowned for events showing off student accomplishments. The dressmaking course held fashion parades before they were in vogue. The forerunner of the School of Hospitality prepared dinners for the Geelong Wine and Food Society in the late 1950s, with the wine waiters having to get permission from their parents before they were able to serve alcohol. In a typical collaboration between Gordon schools, art students designed and printed the menu with the commerce students taking on the typesetting.
Around the same time, staff and students combined to produce The Gordon Gaieties. Consisting of comedy sketches along with songs and dances, the concerts were a group effort between Gordon departments with the art and architecture courses combining to produce the sets with assistance from carpentry and engineering. The Gaiety evenings were sold out well in advance with the first concert containing an all male ballet corps and the Crescent City Jazz Band. Though the performance material was under strict control, occasionally the performers tried to make things a little more exciting with one act letting off firecrackers on stage.
While the Gaieties finished production in the early 1970s, student activities continued unabated with events such as raft races on the Barwon and rock concerts. Showcasing student accomplishments is now often organised within courses, on our website or via events and social functions, including O Week at the start of each year.
The first organised team sport at The Gordon was rowing, probably because then Secretary and later Director, George King was himself a rower. King entered a Gordon team in the Geelong Regatta in 1907 but rowing became a greater fixture at The Gordon in 1937 when Department teams competed against each other on Corio Bay and on the Barwon River. Though the sport received a boost when Gordon Council member A.L. Storrer donated a trophy for The Gordon rowing competitions, interest in rowing declined several years later due to the crews not having their own rowing facilities.
The Gordon took part in athletics meets and swimming competitions around Geelong and beyond during the 1920s, with regular football matches taking place between other country town schools and some metropolitan colleges. The Gordon created a formal trophy in 1929 for its own annual athletics meets. The Blakistan Cup was presented to the Institute's champion athlete. Director George King commissioned the cup and, typically, requested a discount from the silverware company on the grounds that he was using a local company to make it instead of going outside Geelong. He also seems to have suggested that in return for naming the cup after the Blakistan family that they donate a $100 towards its making, which they duly did. The founder of Little Athletics, Trevor Billingham, was the Blakistan Cup winner in 1964.
The Gordon continued to take part in inter-college competitions and was highly successful. In 1962, the Institute took part in a Tri-Sports competition with colleges in Ballarat and Bendigo and scored the highest points. To celebrate, the Domestic Economy department hosted a buffet dinner for the 350 participating college athletes in the Davidson Hall. The competition became Quad-Sports several years later when Warrnambool Technical College joined but despite the new opponents, The Gordon remained triumphant at the end of the day.
After the formation of Deakin University, sports at The Gordon became part of the Student Activities area and varied from year to year, depending on student interest. During the 1970s, sports ranged from table tennis and badminton through to cricket and squash. The 1980s saw the advent of hockey competitions, while football codes such as Australian Rules and soccer remained favourites. Surfing also became a student activity, an obvious choice for Geelong.
International students have been studying at The Gordon since the 1920s. The first were students from Nauru who enrolled at the Institute's Junior School and Japanese students who studied wool-classing and wool-sorting. One Nauruan student, Hammer de Roburt, later became President and High Chief of the Republic of Nauru.
Overseas enrolment continued after World War II, when several Malaysian students enrolled in mechanical engineering. Other students, often from Asian countries, enrolled in commerce, secretarial and dressmaking courses, as well as architecture, chemistry and textiles. These courses were so popular that at one time a quarter of The Gordon's full-time enrolment was made up of international students. It was said The Gordon's architecture program, in particular, was responsible for much of the design of a well-to-do suburb in Kuala Lumpur.
The Gordon's Textile College played a large role in the training of international students, with many students from Pakistan, in particular, studying textile technologies. The Institute also had many students who came to study under the well-known Colombo Plan, a prestigious scholarship program that brought many students from Asian countries to study in Australia. Australia joined the Colombo Plan in 1950 as part of its first major Asian foreign policy initiative. The program ran until the 1980s with many Colombo Plan scholars distinguishing themselves in academia, business and government in their home countries.
With an approximate 12,000 international alumni, the Gordon continues to attract overseas students to study. The International Education centre takes care of an increasing amount of students who choose to study in a variety of programs, including our highly regarded English Language Programs (EAL). International Education provides personalised services for overseas students choosing to study at The Gordon, including an airport welcome and pick up.
The Gordon began as a technological college in 1869 with 10 students taking part in two classes taught by three staff. By The Gordon's official opening in 1887, the new college offered its 63 students diverse classes in architecture, shorthand, bookkeeping and languages. Increasing enrolments meant that single classes could become fully-fledged courses, organised into schools or faculties. By 1918 The Gordon was offering studies in architecture, surveying and engineering subjects. Full trade courses in carpentry, plumbing, and fitting and turning were also offered, as were Certificates in draughtsmanship, wool-sorting, textiles, commerce and dressmaking.
The Gordon and wool are synonymous with the first class in wool sorting offered in 1891. With much of the wool clip sent directly to England, The Gordon's focus soon shifted to wool classing and marketing. By the 1930s, The Gordon's wool school was renowned as the state's wool industry training centre. Early specialist short courses were offered around Victoria to assist wool growers in preparing their clip for market, with modules on sheep breeding and pasture development included in the programs. Textiles are an important focal point for The Gordon. Technological changes that allowed wool to be scientifically measured for its commercial properties led to Diploma courses in Textile Technology and Textile Chemistry being offered in a specialised textile college. Short courses were also offered and regular conferences held. Today, the wool and textile industries remain a vital part of the School Applied Sciences with Certificate and Diploma courses in Textiles, Clothing and Footwear (Fashion) and Agriculture (Wool handling, Sheep and Shearing) being offered.
Fashion has been part of The Gordon curriculum since 1902. Originally a dressmaking course with students going on to work in stores such as Bright and Hitchcock, fashion developed into a three year, full-time Diploma by the early 1960s. In the 1970-80s, clothing industry equipment was introduced to simulate a clothing production factory and now the clothing industry studies courses - such as the Certificate IV in Clothing Production, and the Diploma and Advanced Diploma in Textiles, Clothing and Footwear - are regarded as one of The Gordon's many fields of excellence with generally a 100 per cent employment rate after graduation.
The Gordon has a long association with architectural programs. Local architects often taught subjects and former students frequently became instructors. Former student Percy Everett - best known for the Russell Street Police Station and Larundel Hospital - designed The Gordon's Textile College and Wool School (now T-Block). Currently, in the School of Building and Construction an emphasis is placed on delivering premium training in practical programs such as: Building Design and Drafting, Building Surveying and Interior Design and Decorating, as well as traditional apprenticeship courses in Plumbing, Painting and Decorating, and General Construction.
The Gordon's involvement with apprenticeship training stems from its earliest days as a Mechanics Institute with classes held at night to accommodate trade students who worked during the day. By 1948, full daytime trade courses were offered in subjects as varied as Cabinet Making and Motor Mechanics. The latter has been a large part of the Institute's apprenticeship programs since the Ford Motor Company opened in Geelong, with the original Motor Mechanics department part of Trade Engineering. The School of Manufacturing at The Gordon's East Campus delivers highly regarded automotive courses and certificate courses in Motor Mechanics, Panel Beating, Vehicle Painting and Repair, Services and Retail. Electrical and Engineering studies have a long history at The Gordon, now expanding into Mechatronics and Mechanical Design.
An 1889 class in 'Practical Cookery' was The Gordon's first hospitality course. Nearly 100 years later, the focus was on apprentice chef training for students outside the Melbourne metropolitan area. Facilities were upgraded from a single kitchen with domestic stoves and old laminex benches to modern multiple kitchens and lecture rooms to accommodate increased demand for training. The Davidson Restaurant - The Gordon's original lecture hall - opened in 1978 as a silver service training facility for apprentice chefs, as well as waiting and bar staff. Today, The Gordon has another training restaurant: Cafe on Track, aimed at more casual lunch goers. Hospitality training emphasises service, whether in traditional programs such as Cookery or in its newer management and tourism programs. The Domestic Science department introduced access and health programs via its Dietician and pre-Nursing courses during 1950-60s. The original Mothercraft Nursing course, established in the 1960s, has developed into varied Community Services courses, including Aged Care, Disability Services, Child Care, Youth Work and Nursing. Migrant English courses started in 1982, while current English as a Second Language courses have a substantial international student enrolment. Women's Access and Workplace Skills and Education courses were originally part of the 1980s Community Programs Unit and remain aimed at those wanting to bridge into further study or gain vital workplace skills.
The Gordon offered business subjects from 1888 with students studying typing, shorthand and bookkeeping for just over sixpence per weekly lesson. Accounting was introduced shortly afterwards with The Gordon holding exams to admit graduates into the Incorporated Institute of Accountants. Business courses also expanded to include retail and management training and now include a Certificate III in Small Business Management and a Diploma of Business in Marketing.
English, now part of Adult VCE, has been part of The Gordon's curriculum from its early days, as have writing subjects. The Gordon offered Victoria's first Vocational Writing course - a Diploma of General Studies - in 1969. Two of the many graduates of Vocational Writing are Channel 10 journalist Vic Caruso and comedian Wendy Harmer. The tradition continues with the Certificate IV and Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing part of the contemporary School of Computing Studies and Arts. The Institute's current computing courses evolved from areas such as Business Studies and Engineering.
The first course, a Diploma of Information Processing, started in 1969 with a Post-Graduate Certificate in Electronic Computation offered shortly after. Both courses had an emphasis on vocational training for the workplace. Current software development courses in Information Technology developed out of the Engineering school with Autocad training commencing in the mid-1980s. Multimedia courses - introduced in the mid-1990s - came from the art department's use of early computer drawing programs. Things have changed since the early days of one computer for the whole school. The Institute ensures its students have access to state-of-the-art computer rooms with the latest software programs in its Information Technology and Multimedia courses.
The Gordon is proud of its history in flexible learning. The Gordon still holds classes at night to accommodate part-time students who work during the day and in 1975, became the first Australian TAFE to have an off-campus unit. Each teaching school had also previously run its own specialist training but in 1975, a centralised unit was set up to address industry and community interest courses. The 2001-built Flexible Learning Centre and the Institute's involvement with the TAFE Virtual Campus pilot project as alternatives to the classroom demonstrate The Gordon's ongoing commitment to innovative study.
Wool and Textiles | .Architecture | Building and Construction | Hospitality | Science | Business | Art
