TAFE Queensland marks momentous 140 year milestone

Arts & Culture

15 Sept

Written By Sam Kirby

And to celebrate its rich history in Toowoomba and the Darling Downs, Toowoomba will play host to 3 unique events starting this week.

Toowoomba Town Hall: Toowoomba’a fledging Technical College was founded in this building.

Updated 15 September 2022

S.Kirby

TAFE Queensland celebrates a mammoth milestone this month, with the state’s largest and most experienced training provider blowing out the candles on 140 years of quality vocational education and training. To celebrate its rich history in Toowoomba and the Darling Downs, Toowoomba will play host to 3 unique events starting this week.

TAFE Queensland birthday celebrations in Toowoomba

Toowoomba City Hall light display and film installation
Tuesday, 13 September - Sunday, 18 September, 6pm onwards | Free

Inspired in part by Sydney’s Vivid Light Festival, take a stroll past Toowoomba City Hall and stop at Ruthven Street Park to be immersed in a light and sound installation that celebrates TAFE Queensland’s proud history in our region. This family-friendly experience will light up your evening, as you hear from TAFE Queensland’s students, teachers, and industry partners as they share their stories and successes.

140th Year Birthday Float - Grand Central Floral Parade
Saturday, 17 September, 10am onwards | Free

Featuring divine floral creations by floristry students, TAFE Queensland’s float will be a glorious display of colour, petals and plants. Students, teachers, and support team members will escort the festive float throughout its journey to Queens Park. On arrival at the Godsall Street Oval, flowers and plants from the float will be available for sale.

Toowoomba Clivia Society Inc. Annual Show
Friday, 16 September - Monday, 19 September, 9am – 5pm | $3 entry | TAFE Queensland Horticulture Pavilion

The Toowoomba Clivia Society Inc will conduct its 17th Annual Clivia Show at the TAFE Queensland Horticultural Pavilion. Exhibits of Clivias in flower in a variety of colours and types will be on display with Clivias, seedlings and seeds on sale. There will be a world class display of Clivias in flower with information on how to cultivate and grow the South African Clivia Plant. Club members will be on hand to answer all your questions.

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Rich History of TAFE Queensland

From its humble beginnings in 1882 – with a class of 12 industrial arts students in the attic of the North Brisbane School of Arts – TAFE Queensland is today the largest, most experienced training provider in the state, supporting over 120,000 students each year studying in around 500 qualifications at more than 60 campus locations.

TAFE Queensland Chief Executive Officer Mary Campbell said that as the market leader of high quality education and training in Queensland and beyond, TAFE Queensland has many incredible achievements to commemorate — but promised the training provider was only just getting started.

The organisation marked its 140th birthday on Sunday 4 September 2022, with the occasion highlighting TAFE Queensland’s ability to continually innovate, adapt and progress throughout generations of changes in industry, technology and culture to repeatedly deliver quality skills to students, employers and communities across the state, Australia and globally throughout its proud history.

In many ways the foundation of education and training in Toowoomba and the region were laid in 1861, when Sir Arthur Hodgson, the owner of Eton Vale Station presented Toowoomba with its first School of Arts on the site of the present RSL building. It became the venue for occasional classes in public speaking, debating, concerts and other forms of self-improvement. Fifteen years later, classrooms, a large auditorium, and a library were built on the site, also donated by Sir Hodgson, which is now occupied by Town Hall.

By the late 1890s, the fledgling Technical College was founded and by 1919, flooded with enrollments and having outgrown its capacity, a new Technical College and High school was opened on the corner of Margaret and Hume Streets. Complete with “brown teapot” bricks imported from Yorkshire, England, the foundations were reinforced with railway rails and large quantities of Helidon sandstone was used, the building now proudly stands as one of Toowoomba’s oldest and most iconic buildings.

Mrs Campbell said that while the organisation’s 140th birthday has provided the chance for everyone to reminisce and reflect on its advances, TAFE Queensland is now focused on how it can continue to build on its legacy by supporting the local communities of the future. Whilst the organization has seen its share of change within that time, at its core, still lies the same focus and ethos of helping to empower people.

“At TAFE Queensland, our real end game is job outcomes for our students, and we are proud to see almost 84 per cent of our students go on to work or further study. We have an 89.9 per cent student satisfaction rating, and we are working very hard on the other 10.1 per cent!” Mrs Campbell said.

“Connected by our shared vision, our people, our values, our culture, our core business and our communities, TAFE Queensland continues to help people to change their lives. And it’s our imperative to step into the next 100 years with a commitment to continue as the leading provider of vocational education and training that is at the heart of community success,” she said.

Mrs Campbell attributed much of TAFE Queensland’s success to their close work with government and local industry, which enable them to ensure their training programs are tailored to the needs of business and community, and that their students graduate confident, capable, and ready to help drive the success of their industry.

“We’re incredibly proud of the part TAFE Queensland has played, and will continue to play, in making our state great. Together we share a strong history of shaping and supporting our communities and industries through innovative and practical vocational education and training,” she said.

For more information about TAFE Queensland’s proud history or to define your greatness visit www.tafeqld.edu.au.