Longerenong Agricultural College principal John Goldsmith resigns
Leading Wimmera agriculture college is on the hunt for a new head, after veteran principal announces a big move.
The longstanding principal of Longerenong College in the Wimmera has resigned after 30 years at the agriculture institution.
Principal John Goldsmith will step down from his role on July 2, in a move that signals the end of his agriculture career.
In an announcement to staff last Monday, May 10, Mr Goldsmith said he and his wife, Melissa, were moving to Northern Queensland for what he described as a “real lifestyle change”.
“It’s something my wife and I have been talking about for a while,” he said, of their sea-change to Port Douglas. “She has always wanted to head north to the warmer climate. We have fallen in love with the place and have bought a house.”
His July departure comes after decades of working at the college in multiple roles, before which he attended Longerenong as a student.
He started as poultry manager, and worked his way through the ranks to become a teacher and then vice principal, taking the helm as principal in 2009.
He has overseen many upgrades and advances in his time, including the introduction of an international students program and development of the $2.5 million DATA Farm and Innovation Centre, which opened this year.
Mr Goldsmith said he was confident he was leaving the college in a strong state.
“I walk away at the moment with a level of comfort that the college is in a great place,” he said.
“We’ve got really strong student enrolments. Our numbers at the moment are the best they have been in 20 years. And we have a number of infrastructure projects happening.”
The college is currently upgrading its agribusiness facilities, and has received a $6.5 million grant to expand its student accommodation. “That will be a two-and-a-half year project,” Mr Goldsmith said.
Accommodation at the college is at capacity, with 112 full-time students, most of which live on campus; 64 apprentices and 40 VET secondary students who attend once a week.
Longerenong employs 25 permanent staff and 10 casual specialist trainers.
Established in 1889, Longerenong is located 13km northeast of Horsham, and is one of Victoria’s leading agricultural education and training providers.
Mr Goldsmith said he was confident there were plenty of well-qualified candidates available, and the main criteria was that they had a passion for agriculture and training young people.
“These students who come to us, they have identified agriculture as their career path, so they are really interested and enthusiastic from day one,” he said, adding that overseeing the current infrastructure projects was another exciting aspect of the role.
“Upgrading facilities is something we have tried to have funded for a long time. We have been really fortunate that we’ve had three major projects funded – $11 million in total. It has taken us a long time to attract that funding.”
Applications for Longerenong’s general manager-principal role opened on Monday.
The deadline to apply is June 7.
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