Wales’ education minister has vowed to tackle the “root causes” of antisocial behaviour in schools.

Plaid Cymru’s Anna Brychan was pressed on the Welsh Government’s plans to fix the issue by Reform’s Ceredigion Penfro MS Paul Marr on Wednesday, 1 July.

Referencing Plaid’s 100 day plan, Ms Brychan said the government will address the root causes of behavioural challenges, including “attendance, wellbeing and wider needs”, through a “co-ordinated whole system approach.”

She noted the importance of early intervention and aligning support services to “enhance learning environments”.

Welcoming Ms Brychan’s commitment to early intervention, Mr Marr said parents in his Ceredigion Penfro constituency want to know “why schools are increasingly being expected to deal with the threat of knife crime without proper resources.”

Calling on the Welsh Government to commit to funding preventable security measures and emergency response training, he noted: “Policies and plans, with respect, Minister, do not stop blades.”

Mr Marr also referred to his experience working in the prison service, where he said attacks on staff with bladed instruments became “a regular occurrence”.

He called for assurances for teachers from Ms Brychan that, with rising numbers of incidents, these attacks are “not expected to be their new norm”.

She said: “Every learner has the right to feel safe and know they belong in a school, are able to attend, participate and achieve.

“And the same is true of members of staff, and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our school workforce is equally a priority for us.”

Labour’s Shav Taj spoke of the importance of correctly framing the debate around antisocial behaviour in schools.

She said: “While challenging behaviour is obviously a real concern, we're hearing very clearly from unions but also staff on the ground, that it is actually increasingly linked to unmet needs, particularly around mental health and additional learning needs as well.”

Ms Taj went on to emphasise the importance of ALN reforms and ensuring the right level of support is in place through “a person-centred, needs-led system”.

She continued: “What teachers and teaching assistants are continuously telling us is that too often they're being left to manage increasingly complex needs without it.

“So while some may frame this purely as an issue of discipline, isn't the reality that where needs aren't being met early, those pressures are simply playing out and compounding in the classroom?”

Ms Taj asked how the Welsh Government plans to ensure mental health provision in schools is properly resourced, including school counselling and wider ALN support.

Ms Brychan responded saying her points are “exactly the reasons” the programme will look at “wellbeing, attendance, and wider needs through a co-ordinated whole-system approach.”

She added: “She [Ms Taj] touches on ALN; that is a wider issue in our system, and that's precisely why we want to bring all of these areas together and to recognise the barriers to learning that are part of this area of concern for us, and that's why we have framed our response in this way.”