Gill Carey - special dedication of headteacher

Gill Carey, head of Northern House School in Summertown, Oxford, died aged 49, after a long battle with the disease.

Born in Anglesey in 1960, she gained a degree in Liverpool in the education of the mentally handicapped.

After graduation, she worked at a hospital school for six years before being appointed to a teaching role at Northern House School.

Gill had worked at the school for 20 years, and staff and pupils at the school in South Parade were devastated by her death.

Colleagues have discussed holding a memorial service, and this will take place some time next term.

She scooped Primary Headteacher of the Year for the South of England earlier this year and was due to take part in the national final next month.

She worked as a teacher at the school before being made deputy headteacher in 1996 and headteacher in 2005.

It is understood that when she won the 2009 Teaching Award for Southern England primary head of the year, a Radio Oxford DJ described her as the Anjelina Jolie of Northern House.

She followed this up by pinning a picture of the award-winning actress to her office door.

The school said she would be greatly missed by staff and pupils not only for her dedicated leadership but for her terrific sense of humour.

In December, the special school was rated outstanding for a second time, by inspectors from the education watchdog Ofsted.

At the time, Mrs Carey, who lived in Abingdon, said: “The commitment and dedication of everyone involved in our community enables our pupils to enjoy education, thrive and achieve.”

The school is the only one of its kind in the county catering for primary school-aged children.

There are 66 pupils aged five to 11 at the special school for children with severe and complex behavioural, emotional and social difficulties.

Because of their behavioural problems, many pupils arrive with low levels of achievement.

About 40 per cent of its pupils go back into some form of mainstream education.