{"id":121996,"date":"2026-05-08T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=121996"},"modified":"2026-05-06T15:28:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T05:28:39","slug":"giving-back-through-growing-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"Giving back through growing skills"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOR more than five years, students from The Gordon’s landscaping program have combined hands-on learning with community engagement through a longstanding partnership with Samaritan House Geelong.<\/p>\n

Through this partnership students apply their coursework in a live setting, gaining practical experience that directly benefits the Samaritan House community.<\/p>\n

Working on-site, students have actively enhanced the outdoor spaces used by residents every day.<\/p>\n

Projects have included landscaping works such as mulching, planting, cultivating garden beds, edging and ongoing grounds maintenance, all designed to improve both functionality and visual appeal.<\/p>\n

Students have also been involved in the installation of shared outdoor spaces that provide a welcome place for guests to relax and connect.<\/p>\n

These include a timber terrace with seating, a sheltered barbecue and a basketball court, designed for year-round use.<\/p>\n

A key highlight of the partnership includes the establishment of a low-maintenance, environmentally sustainable native garden, featuring native plant species selected for their resilience and water efficiency.<\/p>\n

Designed with minimal upkeep, the garden supports local biodiversity while providing a calming, green space that residents can enjoy throughout the year.<\/p>\n

For students, the experience offers more than practical skills development.<\/p>\n

Working on a live community site helps build confidence, teamwork and communication skills, whilst deepening students’ understanding of how their trade can make a positive contribution beyond the classroom.<\/p>\n

“It’s a great opportunity for students to get out of the classroom, apply their skills and see the impact of their work in a real environment,” landscaping teacher Anth Johnstone said.<\/p>\n

“It reinforces the value of the course, where technical skills, teamwork and community awareness come together.”<\/p>\n

Through this partnership landscape apprentices at The Gordon gain valuable hands-on experience while contributing to greener spaces within the local community.<\/p>\n

If you are looking for a career outdoors, applications are now open to study horticulture at The Gordon starting in July. Visit thegordon.edu.au<\/a> for more information and to apply today.<\/p>\n

\/\/SPONSORED CONTENT<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FOR more than five years, students from The Gordon’s landscaping program have combined hands-on learning with community engagement through a longstanding partnership with Samaritan House Geelong. Through this partnership students apply their coursework in a live setting, gaining practical experience that directly benefits the Samaritan House community. Working on-site, students have actively enhanced the outdoor […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":121999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-121996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGiving back through growing skills - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gain hands-on skills with our landscaping program. Study horticulture at The Gordon and make a real community impact. Apply today!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Giving back through growing skills - Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gain hands-on skills with our landscaping program. Study horticulture at The Gordon and make a real community impact. Apply today!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-07T18:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/TNG-6-may.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Times News Group\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Times News Group\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Times News Group\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a18f05ec53852f1d7d0528135e60d795\"},\"headline\":\"Giving back through growing skills\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-07T18:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":323,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/TNG-6-may.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\\\/\",\"name\":\"Giving back through growing skills - Ballarat Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/TNG-6-may.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-07T18:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Gain hands-on skills with our landscaping program. Study horticulture at The Gordon and make a real community impact. Apply today!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/TNG-6-may.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/TNG-6-may.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Working on-site, students have actively enhanced the outdoor spaces used by residents every day.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Giving back through growing skills\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ballarat Times\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Ballarat Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/BALT.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/BALT.png\",\"width\":739,\"height\":98,\"caption\":\"Ballarat Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a18f05ec53852f1d7d0528135e60d795\",\"name\":\"Times News Group\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/author\\\/warick\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Giving back through growing skills - Ballarat Times","description":"Gain hands-on skills with our landscaping program. Study horticulture at The Gordon and make a real community impact. Apply today!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Giving back through growing skills - Ballarat Times","og_description":"Gain hands-on skills with our landscaping program. Study horticulture at The Gordon and make a real community impact. Apply today!","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/","og_site_name":"Ballarat Times","article_published_time":"2026-05-07T18:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/TNG-6-may.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Times News Group","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Times News Group","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/"},"author":{"name":"Times News Group","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/person\/a18f05ec53852f1d7d0528135e60d795"},"headline":"Giving back through growing skills","datePublished":"2026-05-07T18:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/"},"wordCount":323,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/TNG-6-may.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/","name":"Giving back through growing skills - Ballarat Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/TNG-6-may.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-07T18:00:00+00:00","description":"Gain hands-on skills with our landscaping program. Study horticulture at The Gordon and make a real community impact. Apply today!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/TNG-6-may.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/TNG-6-may.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Working on-site, students have actively enhanced the outdoor spaces used by residents every day."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/giving-back-through-growing-skills\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Giving back through growing skills"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/","name":"Ballarat Times","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#organization","name":"Ballarat Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2021\/10\/BALT.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2021\/10\/BALT.png","width":739,"height":98,"caption":"Ballarat Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/person\/a18f05ec53852f1d7d0528135e60d795","name":"Times News Group","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/author\/warick\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/153"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121996"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=121996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}