Murrumburrah High School Principal John McFadyen has called time on a 39 year teaching career. There is no doubt those who have crossed his path are better for it.

Murrumburrah High School principal John McFadyen is retiring after three years in the top job at the local High School. The end of the 2017 school year drew to a close John’s 39-year long teaching career, which has seen him cover most of the Riverina.

John was the child of a bank manager, and as such, his childhood was spent constantly on the move, from Deniliquin, to Grenfell and everywhere in between.

At the conclusion of his high schooling, John received a teaching scholarship, and commenced his tertiary education at the University of New England, in Armidale, becoming a secondary maths teacher. When those four years were up, John dived straight into his new career as a teacher, saying he was “prepared to go anywhere to teach.”

His career began with a short, two-week long stint as a reserve teacher at Dubbo High School, before he was sent far-west, to Bourke. John’s father had actually moved to Bourke when he had to moved to Armidale, but fate would see father and son miss each other by a mere two weeks, as his father moved eastward.

John would spend seven years educating at Bourke, before he too would move eastward, finding work at Kooringal High in Wagga, where he would work for nearly a decade. It was at Tumut that John would begin climbing the proverbial ladder, being elevated to the position of mathematics Head Teacher in Tumut, working in that position for six years.

After Tumut, Coeambally called John’s name, with him successfully applying for the deputy principal position at the central school there. After a period of time in that position, John was elevated to principal, rounding out fourteen years at the school. Family circumstances would bring John and his wife, Sally, to Murrumburrah in 2015.

With his children, Amy, Cameron, Kate and Molly, having concluded High School, it was the perfect opportunity for a new challenge. John has found Harden Murrumburrah to be a good little community, and is proud of the three years he has spent at the school.

“I’m proud of the relationships that I’ve established with, that’s what teachings all about, and I think I’ve got good relationships, I’m prepared to listen,” John said. Looking to the future of education, John has his concerns. In particular, he has concerns about the number of young people interested in education, with the lack of men a serious issue. “When you start teaching you don’t aspire to go to the top … I hope I’ve done a good job,” John said.

John extends his sincere thanks to all the staff he has worked with throughout his time in Murrumburrah. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with the next chapter of my life but it certainly will involve some sort of learning, get some more skills, have some fun, see the world.”