“It’s OK to shine”, says Dannielle Miller, Class of 1987, who has recently been awarded The Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours and is proud of this recognition for her service to education, women and youth.
“Everywhere we turn, we’re bombarded by messages telling us that girls should be riddled with self-doubt and self-loathing. ‘She’s up herself’ or ‘She thinks she is so good’ and yet it is important for us to be proud of our talents and abilities and become more comfortable discussing our achievements. Why? Because this will not only help us in our career and life, it will encourage others to be upfront about their skills and goals too”.
Dannielle is the co-founder and CEO of Enlighten Education, a leading provider of in-school workshops for teens which she co-founded in 2003. Dannielle began her career as a teacher and it was in this role that she realised that the needs of teenage girls were often going under the radar. Dannielle went on to create the Lighthouse Project, which pairs at-risk students with workshop mentors to help them develop employment skills; she developed a HSC course in service learning which nurtures students’ entrepreneurial skills while involving them in meaningful community work and she co-founded Enlighten Education which has worked with more than 25,000 young people aged between 10 - 18 each year across Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia.
And if this hasn’t kept Dannielle busy enough she has also managed to find the time to write five books (including the best selling title ‘The Butterfly Effect’ which looks at raising happy, confident girls), has her own newspaper column at The Daily Telegraph and writes regularly for other publications such as The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Mamamia, Huffington Post and Stellar magazine.
Given Dannielle’s obvious flair for writing it is no surprise that her favourite subject at school was English and her favourite teacher at Catherine McAuley was Mr Gill who taught her English in her senior years. “Mr Gill fostered my love of literature and encouraged my feminism - I remember one project where he persuaded me to do an analysis of advertisements from the 1950s aimed at women and compare them to the marketing messages of the present day. He also taught me not just about the texts we studied for the HSC but also about what it truly means to be an educator; lessons that held me in good stead when I later became an English teacher myself”.
Dannielle is an example of not only a strong work ethic but someone who is happy to shine and who will continue to push herself to achieve more. “At the moment we desperately need girls who will raise their hand and say, ‘Yes please! Pick me!’ because the statistics on women and leadership show we seriously need a girl-power injection”.
Dannielle Miller has shown that drive and passion can make a difference and is a wonderful example that McAuley Girls Do Amazing Things!
Jacqui Hamilton | School Development Officer
Catherine McAuley Westmead
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27 Sep 2023
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12 Year 9 students attended a Cyber Industry Day at the end of last term which was held in partnership with KPMG and the Department of Education. The day gave students the opportunity to work collaboratively with students from other schools to solve cyber problems. They participated in a cyber escape room, a robotics activity organised by UNSW students and an open source intelligence activity. Besides learning better ways to protect themselves online, the students also were able to hear from successful women in the cyber industry and learn what it is like to pursue a career in this area.
25 Sep 2023
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The Catherine McAuley Library Ambassadors organised a ‘Big Book Give Away’ last week. 📚📚 Students and staff donated books they no longer wanted and students could then take their pick for some holiday reading. The Ambassadors set up a stall in Mercy Square at lunchtime and any left over primary student level books were given to Mother Teresa.
24 Sep 2023
From Facebook
Today marks the day in 1827 when Catherine McAuley opened the first House of Mercy on Lower Baggot Street in Dublin, Ireland. Mercy House was opened as a place to shelter and educate women and girls. From Dublin, Ireland to Westmead, Sydney we think of Catherine McAuley and her work today!
23 Sep 2023
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YEAR 10 😀 Through song and story telling, Mr Chris Doyle, from Karis Ministries, led a wellbeing workshop for Year 10 students on Friday last week. Thank you to Year 10 Media Team students Kaitlin and Annie for taking these photos.
23 Sep 2023
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Thank you to the Year 11 Hospitality students who served families, Year 12 students and staff at the Year 12 Graduation Mass this week. Our Hospitality students are always ready to serve with a smile. 😄
22 Sep 2023
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22 Sep 2023
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END OF TERM 3! Wishing all students an enjoyable school holidays. 😀 The first two days of Term 4 are staff professional learning days so students return on Wednesday 11th October 2023.
22 Sep 2023
From Facebook
Congratulations Gabrielle, Jazmin, Rihana, Naydeen, Alyssa B, Mackenzie, Shanice, Patricia, Alana, Emma, Alyssa C, Isabella, Claudia, Katherine, Tania, Abigale, Lara, Temika and Irene who were accepted into The Australian Catholic University’s Step-up Program. During the school holidays they will commence their first unit of university study in either Business, Nursing and Midwifery, Sports and Exercise Science or Teaching. We wish these students all the best in these studies. 😀
22 Sep 2023
From Facebook
YEAR 12 AWARDS 👏👏 Congratulations to the recipients of the Year 12 Special Awards which were announced at the Year 12 Graduation Ceremony this week.
22 Sep 2023
From Facebook
YEAR 12 AWARDS 👏👏 Congratulations to Sophia P. who is the recipient of The Catherine McAuley Award. This award is the school’s highest non-academic award and is presented to the student who has made an outstanding contribution to the life of the school. “We should be shining lamps, giving light to all around us” - these words of Venerable Catherine McAuley are clearly reflected in the way Sophia has spent her time at school. In her role as Leader of Hospitality, Sophia introduced initiatives to promote harmony among the students, ensuring that everyone was made to feel welcome and included. She provided a ‘light’ to the new Year 7 students, running lunchtime programs to help in their transition to secondary school. Working closely with the Leader of Culture, Sophia helped implement and regularly supervised Creative Corner - an initiative that provided a place and opportunity to relax, be creative and meet new friends. In the classroom Sophia’s diligence and strong determination to excel has yielded outstanding academic results. She constantly strives for personal excellence, whilst quietly assisting other students. She is always willing to take risks and challenges in her learning, confidently expressing her ideas whilst always listening respectfully to others. Sophia also volunteered to participate in a number of community leadership forums and inter-school events. Her participation in The Smith Family Reading Program shows her concern for the wider community. Sophia’s generosity and positive attitude have impressed staff and students alike. She is an outstanding role model ‘giving light’ to those around her, and is truly a worthy recipient of this prestigious award. Congratulations Sophia!
21 Sep 2023
From Facebook
School choir singing 'Suscipe of Catherine McAuley' at the Year 12 Graduation Mass on Tuesday 19th September 2023.
21 Sep 2023
From Facebook
The Catherine McAuley Weekly Review for Thursday 21st September 2023 is now available via this link:
21 Sep 2023
From Facebook
21 Sep 2023
From Facebook
Year 12 students were honoured at the Graduation Mass on Tuesday night. Each student was given a teacup (a symbol of the Venerable Catherine McAuley) which contained a candle which was then lit by each student’s Homeroom Teacher. The students formed a ‘Circle of Mercy’ to demonstrate the strength that comes from the formation of a circle and the call to live with the values of mercy at the forefront.
21 Sep 2023