The author of this week’s radical report on prison education talks to Peter Stanford about her ideas

Dame Sally Coates freely confesses to being a novice when it comes to prison reform. This “superhead” – who, as she puts it with clear-eyed candour, “made my name” by turning round the failing Burlington Danes Academy in White City, west London, hadn’t even been inside a jail until eight months ago.

That was when the Justice Secretary, Michael Gove, appointed her to lead an independent panel on the state of prison education. The result of her labours, Unlocking Potential, is published this week, and recommends a root-and-branch reform to put education at the heart of every prison’s culture, making it more effective in reducing re-offending.

“It has all been an amazing journey,” reflects Dame Sally. Head teachers can sometimes seem stern figures, unable to let themselves go outside the classroom; but she has a winning, down-to-earth warmth. “People keep referring to me like I am some sort of expert on prisons, but I didn’t know anything about them before starting on the report. It has opened up another world to me. Now I feel passionate about prison reform.”