A mother wants answers after her 13-year-old daughter's nose was broken during a brutal attack by a fellow Wellington High School student this week.
In a three-minute assault during school hours on Monday morning, the victim - who Newshub has chosen not to name - was punched in the face, scratched and had her hair pulled.
As well as a fractured nose, the girl suffered a swollen lip and cuts to her neck, according to medical records seen by Newshub. Her scalp was also badly scratched.
Police confirmed they received a report about the incident late on Monday night and have since launched an investigation, which is ongoing.
It's understood the victim was walking with some friends when she started being followed by her attacker, who is known to her. Her mother says she tried to run away but was caught and beaten up.
The girl went to the same intermediate school as her attacker and had had run-ins with them in the past, her mother says. The victim had allegedly been bullied over her bra size leading up to the assault on Monday.
She is being kept home from school for a few days while she recovers from her injuries. Her mother says she's eager to go back once she's healed, but won't unless the school can guarantee that her attacker isn't allowed to return.
The mother says she hadn't been told whether the perpetrator had been stood down or suspended, and is appalled the school didn't instantly expel them.
"You can't have these violent students who are going to threaten to beat up people's children," she told Newshub.
Wellington High School principal Dominic Killalea said it's clear what occurred on Monday was "horrible" and there's no excuse for it.
But he said even if he wanted to, the Education Act doesn't give the school the power to instantly expel a student - it can only stand down a student for up to five days or suspend the student to the school board.
Killalea was unable to comment on what disciplinary actions the school had taken at this stage but it's understood a subcommittee of the school board could ultimately make the decision on what happens to the attacker.
Wellington High has launched an investigation of its own into the incident and the circumstances leading up to it, and Killalea says they are fullying cooperating with police enquiries.
He's confident Wellington High School adequately deals with violence and bullying, but says even with measures in place things still happen - though he admits what occurred on Monday "was a particularly ugly thing".
"No one ever wants to see that and none of us tolerate that - none of us, obviously, thinks that's okay. But it's also important that the process is a legal process that's undertaken in relation to students - the offender and the person that's been affected," Killalea said.
"We have a good restorative process - I think we're well known in our region for having really good restorative processes in place to work through these sorts of issues."
The students involved in the attack had been attending the school for less than six weeks.
