Gillian Oxford taught pupils with reading difficulties and wrote books for children who have dyslexia
EstherOxford
Wed 10 Mar 2021 10.51 EST
Last modified on Fri 2 Apr 2021 13.57 EDT
In mid-life my mother, Gillian Oxford, who has died of cancer aged 79, switched from being a stay-at-home mother to teaching children with reading difficulties. She spent the next 20 years working in north London comprehensive schools, building the confidence of many pupils.
Gillian was born in Banstead, Surrey, to Helen (nee Oakeshott), a headteacher, and Peter Mason, a chemist. She went to Twickenham County grammar school before training as a dairy scientist at the University of Reading.In 1965 she married John Oxford, a virologist, and after starting a family they moved to Australia when John was offered a job there. In Canberra Gillian worked as a theatre reviewer for the Canberra Times. She also took a great interest in the language, theatre and art of the Indigenous Australians, spending weeks