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Heritage Guide to The Geelong College






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CAMPBELL HOUSE

CAMPBELL HOUSE

See Also Kindergarten
See Also Early Learning Centre
See Also Preparatory School


Campbell House, circa 1976.

Campbell House, circa 1976.

Campbell House at the Preparatory School campus included the College Kindergarten and was named in December 1962 after Leslie J Campbell, a staff member since 1922 and Headmaster of the Preparatory School from 1931 to 1962.

In 1963, it consisted of three forms: Form 1b with Mrs Oxley; Form 1a with Mrs Sweetman; and Form 2 with Mrs Wilson.

During the 1968/69 summer break, the Campbell House buildings were transported from the Aphrasia St section of the Senior School campus to the site of the Preparatory School and re-arranged near the eastern gateway at Minerva Rd with Campbell House operating on that new site from 1969. In 1974 it was the first section of the College to become co-educational with the entrance of 7 girls to Campbell House from February 1974. A wing of the original Warrinn boarding House known as Dorm 10 was also incorporated into Campbell House as a library in 1978. It had been moved to the Campbell House site during the sumnmer vacation of 1976/77. Further building development occurred in 1987 with a Music Room and other facilities constructed and in 1994 with the establishment of the Early Learning Centre as a separate section for 3 and 4 year olds. In 1989, the 'Joan Sweetman Room', a multipurpose room named in honour of Mrs Joan Sweetman, member of staff from 1947 and Director of Kindergarten/Campbell House was opened. Further extension occurred in 1997 and the Multipurpose Centre opened on 25 August 2002 with further work on the Centre leading to its completion in 2005. In 2010, the Campbell House Library re-development was completed. The Pre-School section became the Early Learning Centre commencing in 1995.

Campbell House, in 2007, consisted of six attractively situated classrooms, an Early Learning Centre, a Library-Resource Centre equipped to meet the needs of young children, a Music Centre, the Joan Sweetman Room and an Art Room. There are attractive open playgrounds with appropriate play equipment. Students have access to Middle School facilities including the pool, the gymnasium and the Environment Centre.

Junior School Redevelopment
In 2014, Campbell House was re-purposed as The Geelong College Junior School. In 2018, major redevelopment began, with the turning of the sod on 9 May 2018. In 2019 the school's new multi-purpose room, Wayaperree (Wadawurrung for 'place to meet') opened 27 February 2019, with the remaining buildings opened in 2020.

Designed by John Wardle Architects, the Junior School redevelopment blends the new and the old, embodying the Reggio Emilia approach. In an interview, Wardle described the new school as finding a new version of itself. Like one of the school’s founders bringing and reinventing education practices from the other side of the globe to Geelong, the new school reinvents itself, using and developing the Reggio Emilia approach for the College’s context. The design mimics a walled Italian village of Reggio Emilia, with a traditional Fair Isle pattern softening the walls. The protective wall invites community in, housing world leading learning opportunities while also honouring its heritage.

The new development was officially opened on the 27 October 2020 by Her Excellency Linda Dessau AC, the Governor of Victoria. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the opening declared remotely, and broadcast to the College community.

The new learning spaces were given local Wadawurrung names:

Early Learning - the River
- Multipurpose space - Yaluk (this gathering space, the river, brings water animals together)
- Classrooms - Buniya (eel), Perridak (platypus), Barrabin (turtle), Kuwiyn (fish)

Prep -Year 3 - the Land
- Prep - Plants (Garra - golden wattle)
- Year 1 - Animals (Mon.garrk - echidna)
- Year 2 - Birds (Bundjil - eagle)
- Year 3 - Elements (Mirri - sun)


Kindergarten Teachers-in-Charge:

1929-1931 Sylvia Baird
1932-1935(T1) Miss Winning and/or Miss M Radford
1935(T2)-1936 Mrs Bechervaise
1937-1938 (T2) Miss E Baird{
1939-1940 Miss Wright (Miss M Richmond reported as appointed in 1938)
1941-1949 Lorna Hamer
1950-1962 Joan Sweetman

Campbell House/Directors:

1963-1978 Joan Sweetman
1979-1980 B J L Matthews
1981-1996 D J Bourke{
1997-2008 E. Russell
2009-2013 C. Dineen

Junior School Directors:
2014-2015 C. Dineen
2016-
2017-


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Warrinn Annexe on the move to Campbell House, 1976/77.

























Sources: Pegasus August 1922 p41; Pegasus December 1928 pp37, 43; Pegasus May 1929 pp 3, 34; Pegasus December 1929 p 45; Pegasus March 1932 p 46; Pegasus May, 1936 pp 16, 57; Pegasus December 1937 p14; Pegasus December 1943 p54; Pegasus June 1963 p8; Pegasus December 1969 p63; Ad Astra November 1979, 'Junior School Retrospective' Ad Astra June 2020
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