Te Puke High School is staying tight-lipped following the stabbing of a teacher by a student at the Western Bay of Plenty school yesterday.
Maths teacher Steve Hose, 53, was stabbed four times in the neck and shoulder with a 10cm kitchen knife by a 13-year-old student at the end of class.
The incident occurred in a classroom in front of about 23 students.
Mr Hose was not seriously injured in the attack and was released from Tauranga Hospital in the afternoon.
The student who stabbed him was interviewed by police and put into the custody of Child, Youth and Family pending a family group conference, Western Bay of Plenty police area commander Inspector Mike Clement said.
Te Puke High School principal Alan Liddle would not comment today, with his personal assistant referring media calls to police.
However, he told Radio New Zealand a victim support team had been at the school yesterday and support for students would be ongoing. This morning he met with the parents and caregivers of the students in the Year 9 class.
Police spokeswoman Jacky James said Mr Hose was in good spirits and resting today.
The student could not be charged because of his age but police would complete their investigation regardless, she said.
The students and seven teachers were interviewed by police and offered counselling through Victim Support and the school's own support programmes, Mr Clement said.
Police yesterday completed a scene examination of the classroom and recovered the weapon.
It was not yet clear what prompted the stabbing, which was the second of a teacher in just over a year.
In March last year, Korean student Tae Won Chung, 17, stabbed teacher David Warren in the back in front of 20 other students at Avondale College.
He was jailed for 18 months and ordered to pay $10,000 to his victim.
Te Puke High School was last year the target of an arson attack by a former pupil, causing around $5 million worth of damage.
Former student James Edward Harris had his two-year jail term quashed last month after committing the arson on Easter Sunday, then aged 15.
He lit a fire in a plastic rubbish bin attached to a wooden deck. The fire destroyed a block of seven classrooms, which included the technology block, a workroom, teaching offices and storage room and equipment inside.
