{"id":249871,"date":"2019-12-06T22:15:53","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T12:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=249871"},"modified":"2020-07-14T10:26:52","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T00:26:52","slug":"coolabunia-to-farewell-murray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/12\/06\/coolabunia-to-farewell-murray\/","title":{"rendered":"Coolabunia To Farewell Murray"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Murray Johnston will be retiring as principal at Coolabunia State School on December 13<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

December 6, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

A farewell is being held on Sunday afternoon for much-loved Coolabunia State School principal Murray Johnston who is retiring next week after 33 years at the school.<\/p>\n

The community farewell will begin at 2:00pm at the school, located alongside the D’Aguilar Highway.<\/p>\n

All past and present, staff, students, their families and community members have been invited to bring along a plate for a shared afternoon tea.<\/p>\n

There’ll be plenty of memories to share, too …<\/p>\n

Murray reflected on his time at the school in a recent chat with southburnett.com.au<\/strong><\/p>\n

‘I have spent over half my life as a part of the Coolabunia community,” he said.<\/p>\n

But when he arrived in January 1986, he already had a wealth of teaching experience under his belt.<\/p>\n

His first placement after teacher’s college was at Nobby, followed by Dirranbandi, Hebel and Formartin (a one-teacher school in the Toowoomba region).<\/p>\n

There were 43 students at Coolabunia when he arrived at what was then a two-teacher school.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I always remember seeing the trees and the bush, and the green grass, and being really excited,” he said.<\/p>\n

He also had vague memories of the area from his childhood.<\/p>\n

“Dad was really excited when he heard I was going to Coolabunia as he used to buy jerseys (cattle) from the Semgreens,” Murray said.<\/p>\n

“We’d come up here as kids.”<\/p>\n

There are now 104 students at the school in five classes, a large growth from 1986 but down on the peak of 121 which occurred about a decade ago.<\/p>\n

Other changes over the years include new classrooms, a library and meeting room.<\/p>\n

A $160,000 project is also under way to put a roof over the tennis courts to develop a multi-function sports area, and\u00a0South Burnett Regional Council is building a new car park.<\/p>\n

Murray said he had loved his time at Coolabunia.<\/p>\n

“I worked out a long time ago that running a large school was not my cup of tea,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I don’t regret a day of being at Coolabunia. I love being with the kids and teaching them … that’s the best part of the job.<\/p>\n

“There is a lovely banter. It’s important to have a strong relationship with the kids and their families.”<\/p>\n

He’s now teaching “second generation” students, ie.\u00a0children of some of his first students at the school.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“If you can develop a strong culture in a school, everything else falls into place,” Murray said.<\/p>\n

“Coolabunia is a great place to come to work every day.”<\/p>\n

Murray said the two things that drove Coolabunia State School were consistency of practise and student engagement.<\/p>\n

“And a lot of the old-fashioned traditions are really important,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Small schools allow the kids to have a go at a lot of things; for example, we change our school leaders every term.<\/p>\n

“It builds their independence and their ability to get things done.”<\/p>\n

Murray said he believed he was leaving the school in a good place with a great staff.<\/p>\n

“When I walk out of the place, it won’t fall into a slump,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The new principal will walk into a school that knows where it’s going.”<\/p>\n

Murray was named Darling Downs South West Region “Principal of the Year” in 2018, but he claims the school’s 125th anniversary celebrations in 2016 were one of his proudest moments.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A special guest at the anniversary celebrations was the Governor of Queensland, His Excellency Paul de Jersey AC, QC who officially unveiled the anniversary plaque.<\/p>\n

His Excellency lived in the school house as a very small child while his father Ron de Jersey was school principal from 1950-1953.<\/p>\n

Murray and his wife Sue plan to move to the Sunshine Coast now to be a bit closer to their two grown children, Hannah and Nicholas, who both went to school at Coolabunia.<\/p>\n

Overseas travel and a trip around Australia may also be on the cards, and then maybe something “education-related”.<\/p>\n

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