Most outstanding St Aidan’s alumni
From missionaries to clothes designers and anaesthetists, this Corinda school packs a punch far above its size when it comes to outstanding alumni.
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We asked Brisbane schools to nominate their most outstanding former students and the response has been overwhelming. Corinda’s St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School has long had a reputation for academic excellence.
But its Old Girls have shone in every imaginable field, from pop music to shoe design, underscoring the school’s commitment to the ideal of allowing girls to be the best they can be.
We have a look at just some of their best-known former students.
MORE OUTSTANDING SCHOOL GRADUATES
● Brisbane Girls Grammar School
● Brisbane Boys Grammar School
● St Rita’s College, Clayfield
Helen Barrett
Helen Barrett – after whom Barrett house is named – was a school captain who went on to become a missionary.
her education led her to her calling: spreading her Anglican faith via nursing and the education of young women in the Solomon Islands.
After completing her nursing training in Brisbane and Sydney, Helen was invited by the Bishop of Melanesia to join his diocese and moved to the Pacific nation in 1947.
Until her return to Australia in 1984, she worked tirelessly in local schools and medical clinics, and even as a school veterinarian.
She was appointed a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 1970 and received the Premier’s Award in 1992 and the Archbishop of Brisbane’s Medal in 1997.
She also was named a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2002.
KATE MILLER-HEIDKE
The multi-platinum singer-song writer has been nominated for eight Aria Awards and won the 2008 International Songwriting Competition for Caught in the Crowd, which tells a poignant story of schoolyard regrets.
Her first album, Little Eve, was released in 2007 and quickly went Gold, earning her four ARIA nominations.
She followed this in late 2008 with her second album, Curiouser, which has sold double platinum in Australia, spurred on by her hit single Last Day on Earth.
“I think the school is set up in a way that allows everyone to do their best, in a comfortable, relaxed, supportive environment,’’ she said.
“St Aidan’s provided many opportunities for me to do what I love most (music and singing),
particularly the musicals and the chance to do Music Extension.”
SARAH-JANE CLARKE
The Sass & Bide co-founder’s journey from schoolgirl to international fashion designer was a seamless transition.
Attending St Aidan’s during the late 1980s, Clarke admitted she was not a top student.
But she said the positive environment of St Aidan’s gave her the strength of spirit and confidence to achieve her dreams.
After completing a Bachelor of Business at the Queensland University of Technology, she moved to London before returning to launch the company, famous for its two-inch zip stretch hipster jeans.
“It has been a very steep learning curve. It is honesty, integrity and treating people with respect that makes one stand out from a crowd, and for that I can thank St Aidan’s for teaching me the strong morals that I hold and succeed by today,” she said.
KATE STRINGER
The specialist breast and endocrine surgeon made her mark working at the Wesley, Northwest
Brisbane Private and Holy Spirit Northside hospitals.
An OP1 student, along with 10 other students in her year, she studied medicine at the University of Queensland and trained in general surgery before taking on the subspecialty of breast and endocrine surgery as a Ramsay Health Fellow.
As well as being academically gifted, she represented the school in tennis, swimming and cross country but joked that her strengths lay elsewhere.
“In particular, the St Aidan’s culture of empathy and compassion has helped me
immensely in my work with cancer patients,” she said.
CECILE WAKE
The business leader had two cracks at the school — from Prep to Year 3 and then Years 8 to 12, graduating in 1987.
After graduating, she earned economics and law degrees, with honours, at the University of Queensland.
A former corporate partner at leading international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills in London, she is now Vice-President Commercial and a Director at Queensland Gas Company, which is developing the $20 billion Queensland Curtis LNG project off Gladstone.
In addition to her QGC directorships, Ms Wake also serves on the board of UQ Sport and School Council at St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School.
She also represented Australia at seven World Championships and multiple World Cups in the sport of modern pentathlon between 1995 and 2001.
JANO KOTZAS
Creativity has always been central to Jano Dawes’ direction in life.
While at St Aidan’s, she excelled in home economics, which led to work experience as a window dresser with Sportsgirl.
The experience led Jano to her first job at the Queen Street Sportsgirl store, where she stayed for two and a half years before taking the leap into business for herself, a venture that has led to a colourful and successful career in visual merchandising, event theming and styling.
She still recalls the phone call asking her to be a School Vice-Captain, in Year 11.
“I was always keen to hold a position of leadership in the school so to get this call was a dream come true for me – and something I am still very proud of,” she said.
Her business The Prop House celebrated its 20th year in 2015.
EMMA BETTS
Emma Betts’ short but remarkable life was defined by a desire to help others.
At 22, she worked internationally in rehabilitation and, following a melanoma diagnosis in 2012, later worked to raise awareness of the importance of skin checks for young people.
As a student at St Aidan’s, Emma said she gained a solid grounding in concern for the welfare of others.
“St Aidan’s has a strong emphasis on community service,” she said.
“If I hadn’t been introduced to the concept of community service and volunteering, I probably wouldn’t have ended up with such a passion for working with people from developing countries, specifically with people with disabilities.’’
Tragically, she succumbed to melanoma in 2017, aged just 25, but leaves a remarkable legacy.
LUCY STRICKLAND
For more than a decade, humanitarian aid worker Lucy Strickland has worked with CARE International, Oxfam and UNHCR, providing aid and assistance to children and communities.
It’s a job that has taken her to more than 20 countries, through the conflict zones of South Sudan and Northern Iraq, and natural disaster recovery in Haiti after the earthquake and Ethiopia after drought.
She is fluent in Vietnamese and Khmer, and proficient in French, Spanish and Arabic, and completed a degree in languages and applied linguistics through the University
of Queensland — a huge advantage in her line of work.
“I help to set up safe and protective spaces in which children, who are often completely traumatised through the often horrific experiences they’ve had to endure, are fed, have access to play, learning, clean water, psychosocial support and a network of peers which often serves as an important lifeline of support for these children,” she said.
TRACEY MATHERS
Descended from a long line of famous Brisbane shoe retailers, Ms Mathers is now the managing director of her own chain.
She had her first taste of the shoe business at age 14, when she took a casual job working nights and weekends at the Mathers Shoes Footwear Company, originally established by her grandfather in 1923.
In 1991 she opened her first store, Tracey Mathers Shoe Studio, in the Tattersall’s Arcade in Brisbane’s CBD.
She has since opened another four stores across Queensland, employing more than 20 staff.
She credited St Aidan’s for encouraging her to develop the self-belief and confidence to start her own business.
“If you were not brilliant scholastically, the staff would help you to discover what your strengths were, and gave you confidence to believe you could achieve whatever you put your mind to,’’ she said.
RAY ROBINSON
Dr Robinson had the distinction of being St Aidan’s first Old Girl to graduate in medicine. After finishing school – with the tennis champion, school captain and Dux pockets secured firmly under her belt – she enrolled at the University of Queensland, and then the University of Sydney, completing her studies in 1947 as a fully qualified specialist anaesthetist.
Between 1944 and 1970 she juggled roles at the Royal Brisbane Hospital, Royal Children’s Hospital, Mater Children’s Hospital and the Princess Alexander Hospital.
“The competitive stress of a large school did not exist, as the numbers were so small (in those days),’’ she said.
She remembered the long trek to Graceville oval every Friday carrying all of the school’s sports gear, and obliging train drivers on the return trip who would wait when signalled to stop.
MORE OUTSTANDING SCHOOL GRADUATES
● Brisbane Girls Grammar School
● Brisbane Boys Grammar School
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