The Formative Years (by Paul Cahill)

Many thanks to Paul Cahill, who was a General Activities teacher at Gorokan commencing in the demountables in 1976, and retiring in 1998.  Paul, like me, has a profound interest in the history of the school.  This is an article he wrote for the school archives that I came across the other day.  It was handwriten in his incredibly neat printing.  Mr Cahill will never make a doctor!

The Formative Years of a High School at Gorokan

Gorokan High first opened its doors to students at the start of Term I, 1976. The total student body consisted of 231 students in eight Year 7 classes. [See Separate Lists]. The school was staffed by the principal, Miss Gwen Foley, deputy principal George Owens, fourteen teachers and five ancillary staff.

The school was in Dudley Street, on the site currently occupied by Gorokan Primary School. It was not until a couple of weeks before the start of the 1976 school year that the earthworks began and portable buildings began arriving on the site. All school buildings, including the administration area, toilets, change rooms, canteen and assembly area were portables.

Staff spent their first couple of days at the school unpacking equipment, moving furniture and generally setting up classrooms and other areas of the school to be ready to receive students.

Paths and covered walkway were not constructed until after students arrived and the school was operational. Students and the school community generally, showed great pride in their new school. Many activities were conducted to equip and beautify it, such as rockeries and gardens planted and maintained by students.

There was an assembly every morning and a formal assembly once per week held in the shelter shed adjoining the canteen. Students were supplied with rubber cushions to sit on for this assembly as no chairs were available. Frequently these assemblies had to contend with the noise of the pump-out truck emptying the septic tanks. Sewer connection was not available to the school at that time.

Also during 1976, work commenced on Stage I of the permanent buildings for Gorokan High. Goobarabah Avenue, the address for the new buildings consisted only of a short narrow road which stopped at the driveway to the school site and a cleared grassed "road" running up to where the present western entry is to the bus bay. These buildings looked so big and so grand that Miss Foley regularly referred to it as the “Taj Mahal”.

At the end of the 1976 school year, staff had to pack up all the school’s equipment, books and furniture, ready for removalists who were to transport all to the new school site for the start of the next school year.

The 1977 school year saw Gorokan High at its permanent location and settle into Stage I of the development. During the year, stage II, consisting of the English/Social Science block, History and Language rooms and Science laboratories 3 & 4 was constructed. The number of students at the school doubled and consisted of Years 7 and 8.

The start of 1978 saw all the permanent buildings completed and available for the students which then expanded to Years 7, 8 and 9.

During these years and through the 1980s saw Gorokan High develop a reputation of high standing within the community. This period was punctuated by a number of significant cultural and community events within the school, such as the annual school fete (which was always a big occasion); Asian Festivals; lavish stage productions such as “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat”, “Dracula Spectacula”, ”The Boyfriend” and “Godspell”. Gorokan students gained great enjoyment in contributing to the development of their school and being involved in its activities.

Even though the basic establishment and major buildings have long been completed, a school like Gorokan High never stops developing and changing to meet the needs of the community and the students. Over its years of existence Gorokan High has developed an enviable reputation and ex-students have reached high levels of achievement in university studies, sporting activities and various sectors of employment.

It has been shown to be true, for Gorokan High students of the past, that the more they contributed to their school, and the more effort they put into their studies, the more enjoyable school life was and the better prepared to achieve in life after school. This is just as true for the present and future students of the school. May all students benefit from these lessons of the past: rejoice in the history of your school; become involved in its activities; benefit from and contribute to its good reputation.

- Paul Cahill (General Activities Teacher 1976-1998).