Huge boost for primary school reading skills in Wales
A new initiative aimed at enhancing Welsh primary school children’s reading skills has received a grant of £99,637 by Welsh Government.
The Cymraeg PALS-UK project sees Cardiff Metropolitan and Nottingham Trent universities teaming up to adapt ‘Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies’ (PALS) to align with the Curriculum for Wales and Welsh language requirements. PALS is delivered 3 times a week over 20 weeks for 32-minutes-per session to boost reading comprehension and oral reading fluency. Each Key Stage Two pupil is paired with a peer, taking turns as tutor and tutee while working through structured reading activities.
Originating in the United States, PALS has been implemented in England, Iceland and Taiwan. A 2024 trial conducted by Nottingham Trent University found that pupils who received PALS instruction made, on average, two months’ additional progress in reading compared to their peers. Teachers reported positive feedback, noting a marked increase in reading for pleasure, supported by informal book discussions between pupil pairs.
The new project will adapt PALS for Wales by translating all content and training resources into Welsh. This approach will ensure the intervention is not only pedagogically sound but also culturally and linguistically relevant to the needs of the Welsh education system.
Each PALS manual will include comprehensive resources for teachers, including scripted lesson plans and student materials, making the intervention easy to implement alongside existing literacy programmes.
Developing and piloting PALS-UK training for the Welsh context is Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Education at Cardiff Met’s School of Education and Social Policy, Dr Emma McDonald: "I am tremendously pleased to be leading the development of PALS-UK in partnership with schools across Wales and have it supported by Welsh Government. This collaborative approach enables us to adapt the programme specifically for the Welsh educational landscape and ensure it effectively supports both English and Welsh medium provision. Working directly with Welsh educators allows us to develop the evidence-based intervention that is genuinely responsive to the linguistic and cultural context of Wales."
Dr Emma Vardy was instrumental in securing the funding and leads the PALS-UK team at Nottingham Trent University: “PALS-UK is an evidence-informed programme that can transform children’s reading outcomes, it is therefore exciting to work with Cardiff Met University and the Welsh Government to translate PALS-UK into Welsh and to ensure the programme aligns with the Curriculum for Wales”.
Cymraeg PALS-UK grant is part of Welsh Government’s £44m investment to boost standards and support education. Commenting on the support made available, Cabinet Secretary for Education Lynne Neagle, said: “This is a huge investment in high-quality, nationally consistent support for all our schools. We are helping schools to ramp up investment in literacy and numeracy standards, challenge and engage with their learners across the curriculum.”
Further information about PALS can be found via The Fuchs Research Group.