Schools welcome new principals

Sydney man Chris Browne is now head of Hennessy Catholic College, replacing former principal Dr Peter Webster who departed last year.

And Neil Muir was officially appointed Young Public School’s principal last October, after acting in the role for three months when Peter Blair retired.

Acting principal at Young High School Keith Duran will continue in that role for another term until a new principal is appointed by April.

Megan Altenburg is relieving deputy principal at Young High while Edwina Wymer is Young Public’s new deputy principal after previously working as the school’s assistant principal.

Mr Browne has 30 years of teaching experience behind him, 16 of those spent as an assistant, deputy or acting principal at three different schools.

He comes to Young from St Dominic’s College in Kingswood where he had been deputy principal since 2008. He also spent three years in Bathurst.

The Cherry Capital isn’t unfamiliar to Mr Browne, who has family connections in the town spanning 100 years.

He’s the grandson of J J Patterson and his father ran an accountancy firm - Browne Edwards and Partners - out of the Millard Centre for 30 years until the late 1990s.

It seemed fitting for Mr Browne to begin his first stint as a principal in Young.

“That was the attraction (having a family connection to Young) and I knew the town,” he said.

“It was also the opportunity to teach again in the country, I enjoyed the time I had in Bathurst.”

Mr Browne is currently commuting from Junee while he and his wife sort out their transition with their adult children.

He said staff and students are very friendly and Young has a welcoming environment.

And he has plans for Hennessy to remain a key school in the region.

“I’m very conscious of building on the work of my predecessors… over the last decade,” Mr Browne said.

“The school is in good shape, my challenge is to keep it moving forward.

He’s very passionate about developing professional learning, providing leadership and clear direction, and supporting students towards careers that may not exist yet.

“I’m looking forward to the experience,” he said.

Meanwhile Mr Muir of Young Public is looking forward to building on the success of student achievement with a new student council and leaders, who will be appointed at 10.45am today.

“These students, along with playground support mentors, give leadership and support opportunities to a large number of students,” he said.

“Absolutely [I was keen to take on the role permanently]. It’s been great [so far].

“I’ve had an ongoing relationship with the student/parent community for a very long time.”

Mr Muir came to Young in 1991 from the Blue Mountains. He also taught in Sydney and western Sydney.

Since then he’s filled various teaching, learning difficulty and executive roles.

“I’ll be responding to the daily demands of staff, students and parents… and working with staff and parents on the school [plan] for 2015 to 2017,” Mr Muir said.

“Each day brings new challenges and excitement… I’m looking forward to connecting with Young community of schools.”