Sue Turner, senior tutor with Buckinghamshire Adult Learning
We recruited people for the Challenge from literacy and ESOL classes. Our experience is that learners with lower level writing skills are often able to read at higher levels and therefore the Challenge had a wide appeal, with learners from Entry 2 to Level 2 taking part.
We have strong links with the library service and arranged library visits for our learners to support them with the Challenge. The Adult Learning Service has also invested in its own well-stocked resource bank of Quick Reads, RaW graphic novels and Entry level Gatehouse readers. We set up book share schemes in some of our centres to support the Challenge and to encourage reading in general.
The Quick Reads in particular have proved very popular with tutors and learners alike and have been used in a variety of ways. Many classes have a library system whereby learners borrow books individually and take them away to read at home. Sometimes a whole class will choose a given book and agree to read it. The tutor then plans a session involving interactive learning activities around that book. We have also had informal book clubs where students from different classes meet to chat about a book over coffee and biscuits.
