I was born and raised in Melbourne,Victoria. In 2004, I graduated from Aquinas College. I spent four years working fulltime, before I decided to pursue my lifelong passion for teaching and working with children. I chose to attend Victoria University as a mature aged student in 2009, to begin my Bachelor of Education (P-12).

After I completed my Education Degree, I applied to work at St Michael’s on a remote indigenous island in Far North Queensland, Palm Island. After immediately accepting a 12 month contract I was soon offered a permanent position.  By embarking on this unique and challenging journey, I was able to create and implement targeted education strategies, become an important and highly regarded member of an Aboriginal community, learn another dialect and gain a better understanding of the customs and traditions of another culture. 

Teaching on Palm Island was an incredible experience, and has shaped me to be the teacher I am now. I thrived on being a part of creative and innovative practices every day and working in environments where flexibility was paramount. No two days were ever the same. I have been able to establish a high standard of positive behaviour management, both in the classroom and community.

As a member of a smaller team, I was involved in whole school planning and decision making, participated in school based leadership roles, shared personal interests and talents in specialist programs as well as learnt about new subject areas. I was able to develop deeper relationships with students and their families.

During my time on Palm Island, I was responsible for the complete planning and execution of lessons in all curricular areas, communication with parents and staff, monitoring social and behavioural development, as well as running parent/teacher conferences. I was in charge of several extra curricular trips, where I was the supervising teacher for up to five nights away in Townsville and Magentic Island. I was lead teacher in the implementation of the Stop Think Do Program, where I worked along side with Child & Youth Mental Health to promote positive behaviour.

After 3 years on Palm Island, I decided it was time to pursue my teaching career and my personal life on the Sunshine Coast. I have been living on the Sunshine Coast for 7 years, and have since built our second house in Beerwah with my dear husband to be, Brett.

I worked for 2 years at Nambour State College. During my first year at NSC I taught Year 8 and 9 HPE, Yr 7 and 11 English and Yr 7, 8 & 9 Maths. My second year saw me being accepted for the role of Head of Students for Jnr Secondary.  I thrived in this position and was dedicated to the well being of my students. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the students, teachers and parents through this role and providing my skills to building positive relationships to promote student learning and well being.

In 2017, I left my position at Nambour State College to have our beautiful daughter. After having 12 months at home, I returned to work at Kilcoy State School, working in Grade 1/2, three days a week.

In January 2019, we welcomed our second daughter into the world. After another 12 months home with the girls I returned to work one day a week in the junior school. I am currently working .2 in Junior Lote at Kilcoy State School.

In 2020 I was successful in attaining the (.2) position of Student Wellbeing and Engagement Teacher at Kilcoy State School. This was an offline role in which I was responsible for writing the Social Emotional Learning Program and ensuring it is implemented school wide. My role consisted of providing lessons to teachers on a number of SEL strands, conducting research into current SEL programs and collecting data relevant to our school and demographic. I worked alongside admin to ensure the staff were well supported with this program. I was often called upon for admin support.

In 2023, I moved back to my area of interest, and accepted a position at Kilcoy State High School in the Diverse Learning Faculty, where I have been working with Yr 11 and 12 Diverse Learners. I am currently the QCIA co-ordinator, and I am responsible for providing curriculum leadership in the area of special education. I work with a range of diverse learners who are finalising their schooling but require personalised pathways.

Although I have enjoyed all of the challenges each role has provided, my passion lies with working with children who have difficulty conforming to mainstream schooling. I believe the knowledge and experience I gained at St Michael’s, my position as Head of Students at Nambour State College and the SEL program I have solely developed and promoted, alongside my overwhelming eagerness to work in the field of Student Wellbeing, makes me an ideal candidate for such future positions. 

Please feel free to contact me with any additional questions at ashleigh.mills1414@gmail.com

I look forward to hearing from you!