Supporting learners into education via reading at HMP Buckley Hall

When it comes to prison education, there are a variety of barriers that stop learners from accessing the education that they require. One of the main barriers being lack of confidence.

Learner's who have previously had a negative relationship with education as a child, often struggle to take part in education as an adult. For prisoners, not having qualifications or the basic abilities to read and write, puts them off taking part in the education provision offered to them.

At Novus, we aim to address these issues through a variety of ways, one being our reading provision. If learners are able to gain basic fundamental skills in reading and literacy, it proves their ability to take part in education thus increasing their confidence and desire to pursue education.

Reading and education support

A learner at HMP Buckley Hall who was initially reluctant to take part in the education provision, gained the confidence necessary to take part in classes thanks to the support they received in reading.

The learner at HMP Buckley Hall had inconsistent schooling as a child and faced a large amount of disruption to his learning. An LDD screening gave possible indications of dyslexia.

The learner wanted to improve his reading, to increase his confidence and to have the skills to support his son.

An initial reading screening gave a score of 72 for reading, support level 3 which recommends one-to-one phonics teaching and 53 for spelling, support level 2 which recommends an entry English class for spelling. He had a tendency to rush and guess unfamiliar words as he didn't know decoding strategies.

The learner started the 'That Reading Thing' programme with the reading specialist tutor, Sue Fletcher in July 2023. Skills gaps covered included:

• Practising letter sounds
• Building words with 'puzzle pieces' 
• Spelling set words
• Breaking words into syllables

Over time, the learner was able to get used to taking the time needed to employ strategies to read new words, something he struggled with previously.

As the learner started to make progress, he was delighted he could now read and spell longer and unfamiliar words. In his own words, he was 'buzzing' about being able to read and spell words he never thought he could. Due to his new-found confidence, he became interested in learning because he realised he was capable of doing it.

Positive learner outcome

A second reading screener was completed in February of this year, the learner's score had increased to 91 for reading, showing that he had acquired the skills necessary to join an entry class for reading and 70 for spelling. He is now a more confident reader and was recently 'chuffed' at how easily he read a short book. He has begun to understand about flow and expression when reading and how punctuation helps with this. He also realised that reading can help him with spelling. In a session he said: "I can spell this, I've seen it." 

The learner has also joined the Skills for Life course and has completed entry level qualifications for both English and maths. He has also had the confidence to join a reading club, and has enjoyed taking part in these sessions, where participants have the opportunity to read for enjoyment and discuss books with their peers. 

The learner has benefitted greatly from the reading provision at HMP Buckley Hall and has explained that he wished that he had had something like this in school or prison before. The learner is currently still receiving some one-to-one support to plug specific phonics gaps as he is keen to keep learning and develop his skills. He is enjoying learning and is very pleased with the progress he has made. 

The importance of reading goes beyond learning the ability and skill to read and write, but also enhances learners social lives, hobbies, confidence, and education journey.

To learn more about our education provision, take a look at our education and training section.