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From the
Principal
2019 is coming to a close and what a year it has been.
This has been a real year of joy and sorrow. As a
school, we have had successes in F1 in Schools, in
Rugby, in mountain biking, in ICAS competitions,
in Chess and so many more. We have also had
the more personal joys of successful learning
overcoming challenges like those offered by the
school’s outdoor education programme. Mixed
in with this have been the sorrows, the passing
of Jack Dunwoodie, a much-loved student who
graduated last year left a hole in so many hearts.
This was quickly followed by the loss of Mr Don
Burns, our Senior School specialist Maths teacher
extraordinaire. It was while I was at the funerals
of these members of our MCC community that I
recalled a lesson I learned many years ago. As I
listened to the eulogies for both Jack and Don,
one a young many snatched in his prime and
the other an old man who had lived a long and
glorious life, I heard the same message. Both
of these men lived life to the full, both the old
and the young. They took hold of opportunities
with both hands and ran with them. They did
not spend their time sulking and complaining
about how unfair life is. We all know that life is
not fair, but these men ignored that. Instead,
they took what they were offered and made
something beautiful of their time here. They
found the Joy that is in the everyday things and
refused to be dragged down by the sorrow.
Some of our staff and students are moving on at
the end of this year, in fact, some have already
left us for other places and positions. This same
observation can be made about those changes to
our community. We can choose to lament their
leaving and feel sad and deprived of the future
time together or we can rejoice in the time and
opportunity we had to know and be with them.
This is not to say that we shouldn’t be sad, but that
the reason we are sad is because of how much
they were loved. It is the love that is important.
In amongst the joys and the sorrows, this year
has also been a tough one for our Senior School
students, particularly Year 11. The expected
changes to the senior curriculum have hit with
a vengeance, creating chaos in schools across
Queensland, MCC being no exception. Probably
the most significant change for the students
and teachers is the radical increase in difficulty
of some of the new syllabi. Our staff have been
there as students struggled with a higher level of
expectation encouraging them and supporting
them as they strive to meet this new challenge.
It has been a difficult journey for everyone with
many tears and much frustration. Meanwhile,
our seniors, the group known as the Prep half-
cohort, the group that was the first of the new
enrolment age restrictions so many years ago,
have ended an era as being the last of the OP
students and the last students to do a QCS test.
As we bring the year to a close I want to thank each
of the staff members who have given their best
this year for the students, and all the parents who
trusted us with their most precious possessions,
their children. We see each of our students at
Mackay Christian College as a precious gift from
God and we are thankful for each moment we
get to spend with them, even when they are
driving us insane, because each of them are the
reason that Jesus came and died on a cross.
That fact is a joy that is worth all the sorrows.
God Bless,
Dr Barclie Gallogray