Te Puke High School and police investigating alleged assault on school grounds

The father of a Te Puke High School student hospitalised after she was viciously beaten by a fellow student, wants a teacher who he says failed to intervene stood down.

The enraged
father told the Bay of Plenty Times he believed the school had “failed to protect his daughter” despite being warned an attack was coming before she was assaulted by another girl on school grounds at lunchtime on March 8.

He said he heard the whole “horrific” attack over speakerphone, unable to help his screaming daughter.

A statement from the school said the police and Board of Tustees were investigating the “unacceptable incident” and any violence in the school community was “unequivocally condemned”. It said a number of staff had “attended the situation” at the time.

‘Absolutely disgusted’

The father, who spoke on the condition he and his family were not named to protect his daughter, said he was “absolutely disgusted” a video of the “vicious attack” sent to him showed a man his daughter identified as a teacher had stood by as she was beaten.

He said he could not comprehend why the teacher had not stepped in immediately to break up the altercation.

“This has nothing to do with any school policy or regulations, it’s common sense and common decency as a human being to stop someone from being harmed, especially a teenage girl with a previous skull fracture which the staff knew about.”

He said he wanted the teacher stood down and his conduct investigated.

He said his daughter suffered injuries including a swollen bloodied nose, two black eyes, grazes, bruising to her face and body, a sore back and hip, and both sides of her jaw had been “moved forward” from force of the blows.

In his view: “It was lucky my daughter wasn’t killed”.

Altercation filmed

The video, which the Bay of Plenty Times has viewed but decided not to publish, showed two female students confronting his daughter. One launches herself at the girl, punching her down to the ground and continuing the blows as the victim tries to get to her feet.

An adult male hurries over and stands close by. A voice, which appears to be his, says, “Get out of it” and he steps back and raises one arm in a signalling gesture.

The victim can be heard saying, “Help me”. The man holds his arms out wide and appears to say: “I can’t get in the way … sorry”, as the punching continues in front of him.

The video ends before the altercation finishes. It does not show any attempt by the man to physically intervene.

At least 18 punches, some to the girl’s head, are captured by the video.

’My hobby is fighting’

The father said his distressed daughter phoned him before the attack after she got an Instagram message from the other girl threatening a fight at lunchtime, and he called the school to alert them.

A screenshot of the alleged message sent to the Bay of Plenty Times said: “Broo if you have got a problem that’s us at lunch cause *** hell all we asked is if you would stop staring at us like bitch tf that’s us at lunch.”

The daughter said: “I don’t want to stare at you don’t flatter yourself” and “find a hobby or something”.

The last message from the other girl: “Haha your pretty funny ayee cause my hobby is fighting.”

The father said his daughter told him a male student later repeated the threat to her.

He said he phoned the school more than once and asked a staff member to take his daughter to safety, but he believed it failed to act quickly enough.

Dad ‘heard the whole horrific attack’

The father said his daughter called him as she was being confronted and put her phone on speaker so he could speak to the other girl.

“I told her about the previous head injury and pleaded with her not to attack my daughter because another blow to her head could kill her.”

“But she ignored me and I heard the whole horrific attack. I was so scared.

“Hearing my daughter’s screams and not being able to do anything to stop it was the most scary and horrific thing I have ever heard in my life.”

School condemns violence

A school media release supplied by principal Alan Liddle in response to Bay of Plenty Times initial inquiries said the school and Tauranga police were investigating “an incident of physical assault that occurred at our school”.

The statement said the incident involving “two students” happened at lunchtime on March 8 on school premises.

“A number of staff attended the situation. Emergency services were then notified.”

It said the school’s staff and Board of Trustees were “deeply saddened” by the incident and thorough investigations would “ensure those responsible were held accountable”.

“The safety and well-being of our students are our utmost priorities, and any act of violence within our school community is unequivocally condemned.

“The Board wants to assure our students, parents, and staff that we are taking this incident very seriously. This unacceptable incident is out of character for our school.”

He said counselling and support were available for any affected student and the board encouraged anyone with information about the incident to come forward.

A police spokeswoman confirmed police were investigating a report of an alleged assault at the school on March 8.

School not doing enough: Parents

The victim’s father said he and her mother believed the school had not done enough to address their concerns.

He said they were shocked to learn at a meeting with the school on Monday that apart from the alleged attacker, other students involved in the incident were still at school.

“Only when we insisted did the school agree to stand down the other female student seen in the video.”

He said they also heard at the meeting there was a second video allegedly showing his daughter being repeatedly kicked in the head and back but that the school asked the student to delete it on Harmful Digital Communications Act grounds.

He questioned why this “valuable further evidence” was deleted.

Mum ‘anxious and fearful’

The mother said she had been left feeling “anxious and fearful” for her daughter’s safety at school and wanted reassurance she would not be targeted again.

“I feel sick to my stomach about what has happened to my daughter, I’m not functioning properly because of all the worry and I’m still trying to comprehend why the school failed to protect my daughter, given what they knew before she was attacked.”

She said her daughter did not know the girls involved.

“This was a completely unprovoked attack and happened because they told my daughter she was staring at them.”

The mother said in her view the school was “blasé” in not taking immediate action against the other students involved or the teacher present.

“We feel this needs to be made public and the community needs to know about the severity and level of violence and bullying happening in schools and how schools respond to it.”

School extends ‘heartfelt empathy’

In response to the mother’s comments, a school statement extended “heartfelt empathy to the victim and her family” and reiterated it was taking the matter seriously.

“We acknowledge that the incident is stressful for the victim and her family during this challenging time.

“The Board and staff acknowledge the distress caused by this incident and are committed to work with the victim and her family.”

The school was approached for comment separately with the father’s criticisms.

The school was asked if any policies or regulations prevented the teacher from physically intervening in the fight.

Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.