My mother, Jeanne Strickland, who has died aged 86, was head of English and then deputy head at Camden school for girls in north London, a schools inspector, and, as the first educational consultant for Shakespeare’s Globe, helped to introduce a generation of inner-city children to the thrill of Shakespeare’s words and plays.
She firmly believed that Shakespeare was something magical and enriching that all children could enjoy and ought to experience, preferably on stage. With Globe Education she worked on creative and innovative ways to engage young people, and was instrumental in helping to recruit, train and evaluate a team of actor-teachers, laying the foundations for what is now one of the most highly developed theatre education programmes in Britain. She also chaired an education advisory committee, represented Globe Education on the board and then had a seat on its council.
Born and brought up in Ham Green, Pill, near Bristol, the daughter of Albert Dyde, a clerk, and Beatrice (nee Mann), a nurse, Jeanne was the first in her family educated beyond the age of 14, at Colston’s girls’ school and then Bristol University. Soon after, she headed to France and Finland to teach English as a foreign language, a bold move in the 1950s.
Returning to England after a few years, she taught in further education colleges in the north-east, where she met Bob Strickland, a dashing engineer with a Triumph TR2 sports car. They married in 1959 and made their home in Highgate, north London. But her burgeoning career in London was rudely interrupted in 1963 when she informed the headmaster of William Ellis school in Highgate, north-west London, that she was expecting a baby: being visibly pregnant in school was a no-no in those days.
Nine years later she joined the staff of Camden school for girls, forming a lifelong bond with both the school and many of its pupils. Legions of former Camden girls still recall her infectious enthusiasm for literature and her spirited belief in their talents, which saw many go on to successful careers on stage and in the arts.
In 1987, she sat on the committee of the Kingman inquiry into the teaching of English. Two years later she joined the former Islington local education authority, becoming its principal co-ordinating inspector before joining Ofsted and travelling up and down the country into her late 70s.
Indefatigable in her 80s, she became secretary of the lecture committee of her beloved Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, co-edited the Friends of Camden magazine for former pupils and staff, and rarely missed an event at the Globe. Self-effacing and quick to praise and nurture others, she displayed a zest for life, wisdom, sound judgment and concern for friends and family that touched all who met her.
Jeanne is survived by Bob, by me, and by her granddaughter, Athena.
