Exclusion report advice to be revised after stabbing

The Welsh government is likely to revise guidance to require schools to tell their council when they exclude a pupil for the possession of a weapon.

Guidance from 2019 had stipulated that a council should be explicitly told when a child is excluded from a school for that reason.

But changed advice from last year left weapons out of a list of terms that should be reported.

Ministers have been under pressure after a teenager was found guilty of the attempted murder of three people in an attack at a school in Carmarthenshire last year.

In the Senedd, Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Darren Millar blamed the Welsh government for a "rise in violence and abuse of teachers".

First Minister Eluned Morgan said carrying a weapon can lead to exclusion - Millar said it should result in one.

Guidance from the government says schools must report to the local authority permanent exclusions, exclusions that are for more than five days, and exclusions that will result in missing an exam.

In 2019 guidance, possession or use of a weapon was included in a list of terminology that should be included in such reports.

But 2024 advice left weapons off the list of terms that should be used, which include drug and alcohol, or racist abuse.

Education Secretary Lynne Neagle was criticised after she said the police can search pupils' bags if they do not want to do it themselves.

In the Senedd on Tuesday, Millar said in January there were four school lockdowns "due to threatening or disturbing behaviour".

He accused the government of "watering" down guidance by changing the reporting requirements on weapons and exclusion.

Morgan said that exclusion guidance "makes clear that the use or threat of using offensive weapons can be grounds for exclusion".

"On the data side of things, there is obviously a discussion going on at the moment between the education secretary and the unions".

"That will be this behaviour summit meeting that will thrash out this in more detail.

She added: "The suggestion is that they'll be changing it back to what was done before."

Millar replied: "I'm pleased to hear that you're going to change it back, but it still begs the question why it was changed in the first place."

"We don't want a situation where it may result in an exclusion, taking a weapon into school; it ought to result in an exclusion from school."

He added: "It's your failure as a government to get to grips with this issue that's causing the rise in violence and abuse of teachers in our school."

Morgan repeated: "I'm just going to repeat again that, already, our guidance makes clear that carrying a knife can lead to exclusion, and that the data aspect is separate, but that is being moved back."

A Welsh Government spokesperson: "The possession of a weapon has always been grounds for exclusion in our exclusion guidance, and that has not changed.

"The change we made only related to how data on exclusions is collected. In response to feedback from trade union partners, who the education secretary has discussed this matter with, we are already working to ensure exclusions for possession or use of a weapon are reflected in data collection categories."